Effective Network to advance Scientific Evidence related to Mechanisms of music-Based interventions for pain and support coLlaborative Efforts (ENSEMBLE)
In 2023, The National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and Office of Behavioral Sciences Research (OBSSR) co-funded ENSEMBLE under award number U24AT012603 for five years.
Music-based interventions (MBIs), including music therapy (MT), are known to be effective in the treatment of pain. However, substantial gaps remain in understanding their mechanisms. This gap limits the selection of ideal clinical populations and appropriate clinical outcomes.
Barriers to advancing this mechanistic research include:
- Lack of meaningful + inclusive collaboration between music therapists, mechanistic scientists, neuroimagers, ‘omics experts, and pain + integrative health and medicine (IHM) researchers
- Inconsistent application and definition of MBIs, patient-reported outcomes, and biological measures
- Lack of funding and infrastructure to support interdisciplinary pilot projects
