The recent discovery of the medullary circuit driving “hunger responses” – reduced thermogenesis and promoted feeding – has greatly expanded our knowledge on the central neural networks for energy homeostasis. However, how hypothalamic hunger and satiety signals generated under fasted and fed conditions, respectively, control the medullary autonomic and somatic motor mechanisms remains unknown. Here, in reviewing this field, we propose two hypothalamomedullary neural pathways for hunger and satiety signaling. To trigger hunger signaling, neuropeptide Y activates a group of neurons in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH), which then stimulate an excitatory pathway to the medullary circuit to drive the hunger responses. In contrast, melanocortin‐mediated satiety signaling activates a distinct group of PVH neurons, which then stimulate a putatively inhibitory pathway to the medullary circuit to counteract the hunger signaling. The medullary circuit likely contains inhibitory and excitatory premotor neurons whose alternate phasic activation generates the coordinated masticatory motor rhythms to promote feeding. Energy homeostasis is maintained by the central neural circuits that consist of the hypothalamic circuits evaluating nutritional status and the medullary motor circuits controlling energy expenditure and intake. Here, two key pathways that transmit hypothalamic hunger and satiety signals to the medullary motor systems to drive appropriate responses for energy homeostasis are proposed.