NCCIH Research Blog

We have the amazing ability to sense and interpret the world surrounding us through vision, hearing, olfaction, taste, and touch. Can we also sense, interpret, and integrate signals from within our body’s internal landscape across conscious and unconscious levels, a unique sense now commonly referred to as interoception? If this question piques your interest, join us at the inaugural National Institutes of Health (NIH) workshop on “The Science of Interoception and Its Roles in Nervous System Disorders” on April 16 and 17, 2019, on the NIH Campus in Bethesda, Maryland.

This workshop is sponsored by the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research. It is led by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) in collaboration with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Cancer Institute (NCI), and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Our objective is to identify gaps in research related to the science of interoception and its roles in nervous system disorders as well as to develop strategies and recommendations to advance this area of research. The workshop will bring together experts from diverse fields in basic neuroscience and clinical research to address two major connections—the connection between brain and body and the connection between basic research and human or clinical research. The areas of focus for the workshop will include the following:

• Neural circuitry underlying the dynamic interactions between the central and peripheral nervous systems;
• Interoceptive processes in associated diseases and disorders;
• Effect of modulating interoceptive processes and potential interventions/therapies; and
• Development of technologies and methodologies to enhance interoceptive research.

The workshop is free and open to the public. If you are interested in interacting with participants and engaging in discussions during the meeting, you are welcome to join us in person! Alternatively, the workshop will be livestreamed and the video will be archived. On the registration website, you can choose the virtual attendance option to receive information about viewing the meeting online.

View the agenda and registration information