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National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

Functional Neurocircuits of Interoception (NIH Blueprint on Neuroscience)

Date: September 29, 2022 - 11:30 a.m. ET to 5:00 p.m. ET

Virtual

Event Description

Join the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research on the first day of an investigator meeting to discuss select research on interoception. The meeting will be livestreamed on Thursday, September 29.

The meeting will feature seven studies funded by the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research: Functional Neural Circuits of Interoception, as well as selected studies on interoception funded by the subsequent Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Promoting Research on Interoception and Its Impact on Health and Disease, the NIH BRAIN Initiative, and the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (PA) Program. The main focus will be on preclinical functional neural circuit analysis of interoception using multiple mammalian model systems and will discuss: 

  • Digestive System–Brain Connections
  • Pulmonary-Cardiovascular Systems–Brain Connections
  • Metabolic, Immune, Muscular, and Multiple Systems–Brain Connections

View the agenda and speakers at https://nihinteroception.eventbrite.com. 

Agenda

11:30–11:35 a.m. | Opening Remarks

Dr. David Shurtleff, Deputy Director, NCCIH

11:35–11:55 a.m. | Overview and Update of the NIH Interoception Program

Dr. Wen Chen, Branch Chief, Division of Extramural Research, NCCIH

KEYNOTE

11:55 a.m.–12:20 p.m. | Biologically Inspired Neurotechnology To Probe Brain–Organ Communication 
Dr. Polina O. Anikeeva, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Progress reports from the principal investigators of NIH grants (15 minutes per presentation):

12:20–1:45 p.m. | Session 1: Digestive System–Brain Connections  
(Moderator: Dr. Heike Muenzberg-Gruening; Q & A–25 minutes)

  1. Functional Neural Circuits of Stomach–Brain Interoception
    Drs. Zhongming Liu and Jiande Chen, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
  2. Spinal Sensory Ganglia and Gut Sensation 
    Dr. Ivan E. de Araujo, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai 
  3. Gut-to-Brain Circuits Underlying Fluid Regulation
    Dr. Yuki Oka, California Institute of Technology
  4. Functional Identification of Vagal Sensory Neurons Innervating the Liver 
    Dr. Young-Hwan Jo, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

1:45–2:05 p.m. | BREAK

2:05–3:30 p.m. | Session 2: Pulmonary–Cardiovascular Systems–Brain Connections 
(Moderator: Dr. Mark Andermann; Q & A–25 minutes)

  1. Dissecting the Interoception Circuit That Controls Airway Constriction 
    Dr. Xin Sun, University of California, San Diego 
  2. Unravelling Lung Interoception and Its Functional Consequence in the Developing Ovine Lung 
    Drs. Arlin B. Blood and Christopher G. Wilson, Loma Linda University 
  3. Dissecting Neural Circuits for Breathing Patterns
    Dr. Peng Li, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor 
  4. Defining Subsets of Sympathetic Neurons Mediating Cardiac Neurotransmission
    Dr. Olujimi A. Ajijola, University of California Los Angeles 

3:30–4:55 p.m. | Session 3: Metabolic, Immune, Muscular, and Multiple Systems–Brain Connections   
(Moderator: Dr. Olujimi Ajijola; Q & A–25 minutes)

  1. Insular Cortex Estimates Current and Future Bodily States
    Dr. Mark L. Andermann, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center 
  2. Metabolic Changes: Connecting Temperature Sensing Neurons to Sympathetic Adipose Tissue Stimulation
    Dr. Heike Muenzberg-Gruening, LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center
  3. Functional Peripheral and Central Vagal Neural Circuits of Interoception Inhibiting Pain 
    Dr. Yu Shin Kim, University of Texas Health Science Center and Dr. Man-kyo Chung, University of Maryland Baltimore 
  4. Descending Innervation and Control of Internal Organ Function 
    Dr. Rui M. Costa, Allen Brain Institute  

4:55–5:00 p.m. | Closing Remarks

Dr. Rita Valentino, Director, Division of Neuroscience and Behavior, NIDA

5:00 p.m. | Adjourn