Animals learn through experience what foods and fluids are worth ingesting to meet their internal needs, such as rehydration. During gustation, food and water elicit activity in dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), conferring value on associated cues. However, it is not clear how such neurons represent internal nutrients and fluids — which are key drivers of ingestion-related behaviour — and how such representations are used to learn about what to ingest. Now, Grove et al. find that different midbrain DA neuron subsystems in mice track food and fluid ingestion at different stages of this process, and that this tracking information enables animals to learn about the results of ingestion.

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