Anticipatory activities which precede food delivery under restricted daily feeding schedules were compared in rats with septal, suprachiasmatic and ventromedial hypothalamic lesions. Whereas rats with lesions of the septal nucleus and of the suprachiasmatic nucleus showed a normal pattern of increase in activity several hours prior to feeding, the rats with the ventromedial hypothalamic lesions did not show any activity bouts prior to feeding time. The semi-circular knife cut anterior to the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus also eliminated the anticipatory activities. These findings suggest that the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus is required to produce the anticipatory activities of restricted daily feeding schedules.