The neurotransmitter dopamine is shown to play a fundamental role in the generation of the feeding motor pattern and resultant feeding behavior in Helisoma. Application of exogenous dopamine triggered the fictive feeding motor pattern in the isolated CNS and triggered feeding movements in semi-intact preparations. Application of feeding stimulants to the oral cavity excited the putatively dopaminergic buccal interneuron N1a, and depolarization of interneuron N1a triggered the production of the fictive feeding motor pattern. The ability of dopamine superfusion and of interneuron N1a stimulation to activate the fictive feeding motor pattern was blocked by the dopamine antagonist sulpiride. The phase of the fictive feeding motor pattern was reset by brief hyperpolarization of interneuron N1a, demonstrating that interneuron N1a is an integral component of the buccal central pattern generator (CPG). During spontaneous fictive feeding patterns, prolonged hyperpolarizations of interneuron N1a inhibited the production of patterned activity. Exogenous dopamine maintained the fictive feeding motor pattern in the absence of interneuron N1a activity. Interneuron N1a was labeled by the formaldehyde-glutaraldehyde histochemical technique, which is indicative of the presence of dopamine in mollusks. These data suggest that interneuron N1a is an endogenous source of the neuromodulator dopamine, intrinsic to the buccal CPG, and that interneuron N1a has a prominent role in the sensory-motor integration triggering the consummatory response.