In 2023, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)) with partial co-funding support from NIH’s Office of Behavior and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) and National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), funded three music research networks to promote multidisciplinary mechanistic studies of music-based interventions (MBIs) for pain. These networks are expected to develop compelling research frameworks that will effectively guide future clinical studies on MBIs in the context of pain; adopt consistent terminology and taxonomy; support interdisciplinary collaborations; and initiate 1-year pilot projects to test novel mechanistic hypotheses.

The purpose of this Request for Applications (RFA) is to elicit proposals for 1-year pilot studies that will generate necessary preliminary data to strengthen future NIH applications for later-stage studies aimed at better understanding the mechanisms through which music may have a positive impact on pain. A successful pilot study would also facilitate multidisciplinary collaborations among neuroscientists, music therapists, musicians, and biomedical, behavioral, or social scientists.

MBIs have been investigated for efficacy in the amelioration of acute and chronic pain. However, how music may influence pain remains unclear; little is known about the mechanisms underlying the effects of MBIs.

Only mechanistic studies, including mechanistic clinical trials, are eligible for this RFA. Studies that are designed to test the safety or demonstrate the efficacy/effectiveness of an intervention are expressly not eligible and should be submitted under the appropriate NCCIH Clinical Trial FOA. Please see NCCIH’s Clinical Trials Funding Opportunity Announcements web page for further information.

The scientific scope of the pilot projects is limited to the following high-priority research areas:

1. Exploration of innovative mechanistic hypotheses of the neural systems involved in the therapeutic effect of music (e.g., sensory, motor, cognitive, emotional/affective, reward, interoceptive systems) in acute pain or chronic pain.
2. Examination of non-neural physiological systems and novel measures (e.g., impact on related non-neural organs, biochemical and molecular signals, epigenetic modifications) relevant to advancing mechanistic understanding of music or MBIs for acute or chronic pain.
3. Investigation of psychological, behavioral, and social predictors, moderators, or mediators of the effects of music or MBIs on acute or chronic pain.
4. Discovery of predictive biomarkers or signatures/profiles for music or MBIs in the context of acute or chronic pain.
5. Development and/or testing of innovative animal models to study mechanisms and biomarkers of music or MBIs in the context of acute or chronic pain.
6. Development and/or testing of novel technologies to measure how music or MBIs impact the brain or body, or to monitor health-related responses relevant to acute or chronic pain.
7. Development of large de-identified dataset(s) of music-based interventions deployed within medical centers to address mechanistic understanding of MBIs influence on acute pain.

Important: Primary data collection projects are appropriate, but projects must be completed within the proposed 1-year timeline. In such cases, leveraging ongoing studies by adding a study design element, measure, or using a similar approach is strongly encouraged. Secondary data analysis projects are also acceptable but must represent a novel scientific advancement. The proposals cannot include high-risk populations. No data collection for human subjects or animal research in foreign countries is permitted. All pilot applicants should be a member of at least one of the three networks at the time of submission.