Different behaviors are often studied in isolation, leaving unanswered questions about how the brain processes needs and prioritizes behaviors to ensure survival. Now, researchers have shown that pain and hunger interact in complex ways in mice: extreme hunger suppresses less-urgent inflammatory pain, but leaves them able to feel and react to more life-and-death kinds of pain. The study pinpoints a highly specific neural circuit that creates this analgesic effect.

Source: The mouse brain can prioritize hunger by suppressing pain when survival is at stake