Brain's prolactin pathway controls lactation metabolism and pain sensitivity in mice

Since the dawn of mammalian life, the nursing mother's body has undergone a quiet, sweeping transformation — bone surrendering its calcium, appetite expanding, pain receding — yet the brain's role in conducting this symphony remained largely unheard. A new study in mice has traced a neural pathway in the hypothalamus through which prolactin, the hormone of milk, speaks directly to dopaminergic neurons that in turn govern bone loss, hunger, and pain tolerance during lactation. The findings do not yet speak for human biology with certainty, but they offer the first coherent map of a conversation