Journal of Pain & Relief
Open Access

Yoshio Nakamura

Associate Professor Utah Center for Exploring Mind-Body Interactions (UCEMBI) Pain Research Center Department of Anesthesiology University of Utah School of Medicine USA

Biography

Dr. Nakamura is an Associate professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Utah. As a research psychologist, his research has centered on the intersection of consciousness, emotion and pain, an area critical for understanding mind-body interactions. He studied placebo analgesia (PA) to investigate dynamically unfolding processes in the generation of PA response (R01-NS046230). From 2004 to 2010, He served as Director of the Utah Centre for Exploring Mind-Body Interactions (UCEMBI), collaborating with 15 other investigators in various departments in university. An exploratory NIH grant (R21-AT002209) supported UCEMBI, allowing him to explore methods that enhance (somatic) awareness for the purpose of human change, chronic multi-symptom illness in which awareness of somatic symptoms is a salient feature. More recently, He have been working to develop and refine an overarching methodological framework useful for investigating underlying theoretical mechanisms by which mind full awareness training works to alleviate symptoms and suffering in patients with wide-ranging medical conditions. He also conducted studies of mindfulness meditation as well as several pilot projects investigating the efficacy of Mind-Body Bridging (MBB). MBB, a mind training program that appears to foster mindfulness, promises to be a novel effective intervention for many different medical and mental health conditions. The pilot work with MBB led to has two DoD-funded research projects investigating the usefulness of a MBB-based intervention program (that is designed to cultivate the quality of awareness) in producing therapeutic benefits for Gulf War Veterans suffering from chronic illness (e.g., insomnia complains and other co-morbid symptoms), Veterans with mind traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and sleep disturbance together with other co-morbid symptoms (such as PTSD and chronic pain). He have been involved in directing research studies testing mind-body intervention protocols for treating people with chronic illness, such as chronic pain, fibromyalgia, chronic insomnia, Gulf War Illness, and mTBI. I have been a part of an interdisciplinary and translational research team with diverse expertise in research and clinical areas at the Pain Research Center.

Research Interest

His research expertise are mind-body, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, chronic insomnia, Gulf War illness, veterans, quality of life. His long-term goals are to facilitate use of awareness training for clinical benefits for patients suffering from multiple chronic conditions and contribute to scientific understanding of consciousness in health and illness.

Publications

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