Press Releases
NIH research projects on interoception to improve understanding of brain-body function
September 3, 2021
The National Institutes of Health is awarding seven projects a total of $18.15 million over five years for a new effort focused on interoception—the ways in which organisms sense and regulate signals within their bodies. Interoception is not well understood and is a new area of research focus for NIH. This coordinated effort, which involves multiple NIH Institutes and Centers, will address critical knowledge gaps and challenges in understanding interoception that are not tackled by other major NIH research initiatives.
NIH-funded study suggests a single skills-based session on pain management packs a punch
August 16, 2021
A single two-hour session of a pain management skills class could offer as much benefit as eight sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for patients experiencing chronic low-back pain (CLBP), suggests a study published in JAMA Network Open.
Media Advisory: NIH to host spring lecture series on integrative approaches for addressing pain and mental health
April 13, 2021
NCCIH will present two virtual lectures in spring 2021 as part of its Integrative Medicine Research Lecture Series.
NIH networks to advance emotional well-being research
February 1, 2021
Five new research networks totaling $3.13 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health will allow investigators to refine and test key concepts that advance the study of emotional well-being.
Media Advisory: Where We Live Affects our Health and Offers an Approach To Address Health Inequities
November 17, 2020
NCCIH presents the 2020 Stephen E. Straus Distinguished Lecture in the Science of Complementary Therapies: “All Health Is Not Created Equal: Where You Live Matters” by Shannon N. Zenk, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., F.A.A.N., Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research.
Study discovers gene that helps us know when it’s time to urinate
October 19, 2020
In a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study involving both mice and patients who are part of an NIH Clinical Center trial, researchers discovered that a gene, called PIEZO2, may be responsible for the powerful urge to urinate that we normally feel several times a day. The results, published in Nature, suggest that the gene helps at least two different types of cells in the body sense when our bladders are full and need to be emptied. These results also expand the growing list of newly discovered senses under the gene’s control.
Four New Members Join NCCIH National Advisory Council
September 25, 2020
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, announces selection of four new members of the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Integrative Health: Robert Coghill, Ph.D., Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center; Margaret (Meg) Haney, Ph.D., Columbia University Irving Medical Center; Girardin Jean-Louis, Ph.D., New York University Grossman School of Medicine; and Karen Sherman, Ph.D., M.P.H., University of Washington and Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute.
Media Advisory: NIH to host spring lecture series on integrative approaches for addressing pain and mental health issues
March 11, 2020
“Novel Approaches at the Intersection of Mental Health and Pain” will be highlighted in the spring 2020 Integrative Medicine Research Lecture Series sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).
Patients with newly diagnosed chronic musculoskeletal pain are prescribed opioids more often than recommended
January 16, 2020
Study finds that patients experiencing new chronic musculoskeletal pain are prescribed opioids more often than physical therapy, counseling, and other nonpharmacologic approaches.
NIH study in mice explains how brain can turn pain signals up or down
October 15, 2019
A new study in mice, conducted by NCCIH researchers, uncovered a previously unknown role that the central amygdala can play in upgrading or downgrading pain signals in the brain’s circuitry.