UofM Leads National Network Using AI to Decode How Music Relieves Pain

UofM-led network uses AI and computational modeling to uncover how music-based therapies reduce pain

The University of Memphis is leading a groundbreaking national effort to uncover how music can scientifically reduce pain. The AudioAnalgesiA Research Network, directed by Dr. Debra Burns, Dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts, brings together experts in music therapy, neuroscience, data science, and engineering to transform how we understand and apply music-based pain management from an art into a precision, data-driven science.

Supported by a multi-million-dollar NIH cooperative agreement, the initiative is developing computational models, artificial intelligence tools, and novel technologies to explain how and why music helps people manage pain — from brain activity to cellular responses. The network brings together top researchers from across the country. Along with Burns, these researchers include Dr. Adam Hirsh (Indiana University), Dr. Ken Yoshida (Purdue University), Dr. Luana Colloca (University of Maryland), Dr. Becky Kinkead and Dr. Shelley White (University of Utah), Dr. Joseph Schlesinger (Vanderbilt University), and Dr. Eric Garland (UC San Diego). Together, the AudioAnalgesiA Network is pursuing a three-phase research roadmap focused on explainable AI, real-time adaptive systems, and integrating data from brain imaging, physiology, and molecular studies. They are combining music therapy, engineering, and neuroscience expertise to decode the biological mechanisms behind music’s ability to reduce pain.

"We're forming a transdisciplinary group of clinicians, musicians, researchers, engineers to identify and investigate the mechanisms that explain how music-based interventions improve pain-related outcomes," says Dr. Burns. "By leveraging cutting-edge computational methods, we can move beyond simply knowing that music helps with pain to understanding exactly how it works at neural, physiological, and molecular levels."

By funding high-risk, high-reward pilot projects, the network aims to support the development of precision music-based interventions tailored to individual patients — turning playlists and active music making into personalized medicine. The network is inviting engineers, data scientists, and music technologists to apply for pilot funding that advances computational and mechanistic research in music-based pain relief.

By leveraging explainable AI, machine learning, and wearable technologies, the team will create adaptive music interventions and identify digital biomarkers that predict therapeutic response. This ambitious research roadmap represents a new frontier in understanding how music can become a clinically validated, technology-enabled tool for pain relief.

Ultimately, AudioAnalgesiA seeks to translate its findings into clinically deployable digital therapies that improve quality of life for millions worldwide — a fusion of art, science, and AI at the heart of UofM innovation.

For more information on this project, contact Burns at dsburns@memphis.edu or visit www.audioanalgesia.org.