The mesolimbic dopamine (mesDA) system is known for its role in associative learning, reward-seeking, and signaling of reward-related information. As such, increased activity of mesDA neurons drives motivated behavior and promotes operant responding for food. What remains unclear is the nature of mesDA’s role in energy balance. Given the fact that ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine (DA) neurons are sensitive to feeding-hormones like leptin and ghrelin (that signal information about the current metabolic state), this system may be important in the regulation of food intake. To investigate how energy balance affects reward-signaling by mesDA neurons, in vivo electrophysiological recordings were made of (putative) DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) during the execution of a behavioural task. Neuronal activity was subsequently related to cue-presentation and the delivery of food rewards. To manipulate energy balance, animals were either food-deprived or free-fed preceding the recording session. In addition, the effect of peripheral injections of leptin and ghrelin on reward-encoding was measured. Elucidation of how hunger, leptin and ghrelin signaling affect mesDA neurons in feeding behavior provides important insights into the role of this neural circuit in obesity and anorexia nervosa