Dissertation Title: Omnisensory Medicine: Engineering a Sensory Renaissance, Leveraging Cognitive Design, MediMusical Instruments, and Interdisciplinary Convergence to Improve Experiential and Clinical Outcomes

Abstract:

The Renaissance, meaning “rebirth,” signaled a profound awakening of inquiry through the convergence of science, music, art, engineering, philosophy and the study of the human body. This work recomposes “Renaissance” as a paradigm of epistemic reunification, not merely as a historical epoch but as a process of restoration. The presented framework reconvenes sensory practice with medical praxis, bringing into dialogue domains of inquiry that have long been pursued along separate paths. This synthesis illuminates the Omnisensory perspective as an engineered method for advancing both clinical outcomes and human experience.

The senses can serve as a conduit for extending medical intervention, enabling early diagnostics, more targeted treatments and standardized protocols of healthcare delivery. This comprehensive understanding of the senses can improve approaches to medicine, design, engineering and music toward developing novel health technologies. The human body is inherently sensory, with changes in sensory function often emerging among the earliest indicators of physiological disruption. Sensory alterations precede the emergence of more overt clinical symptoms: individuals with Alzheimer’s disease may exhibit changes in color perception, while impaired proprioception can emerge among the earliest manifestations of neurovascular injury. Similarly, alterations in olfactory capacity may accompany or precede viral infection. Concurrently, sensory engagement can support specific therapeutic domains. Singing and music listening can facilitate diaphragmatic breathing and attenuate dyspnoea in patients with pulmonary disease; exposure to colorful lighting can reduce pain perception and improve quality of life in hospital environments; and somatosensory stimulation can support motor recovery and functional rehabilitation following stroke. Despite these widely established precedents, the senses are not currently central to patient care in many clinical or home-recovery settings. 

This dissertation addresses the gap between the recognized potential of sensory experience and its integration into medicine by establishing new conceptual frameworks, interdisciplinary methodologies, and technologies that apply sensory knowledge to medical care. At its core, this work challenges the enduring paradigm of the “five senses,” articulated by Aristotle more than 2,000 years ago and still influential across all fields. While foundational, this model does not encompass the breadth of human sensation, which extends to proprioception, kinesthesia, temperature, nociception, vestibular sensation, interoception, and many other sensory modalities. Omnisensory Cognition proposes a theoretical framework for bringing these processes and their associated principles into dialogue, while Omnisensory Medicine realizes this premise through practice in the dual-IRB-approved CHORD patient study, conducted in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS). Central to this work are MediMusical Instruments, hybrid systems that combine the neurocognitive and motivational affordances of musical instruments with the sensing, measurement and analytical capabilities of medical technologies. 

Through this confluence, musical interaction becomes not only an experiential and therapeutic mechanism but also a measurable clinical interface. Central to this thesis is the CHORD Study which demonstrates the potential of these approaches to support patient rehabilitation remotely or in person while generating meaningful quantitative data and insights that strengthen data integrity and improve healthcare outcomes. Collectively, these contributions initiate a sensory renaissance in medicine and accessible experience design, reuniting Omnisensory Cognition, interdisciplinary perspectives and clinical technologies to cultivate a more connected, measurable, human-centered model of healthcare.

Professor Tod Machover
Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media
MIT Media Lab

Dr. MingMing Ning, MD, MMSC
Director, Cardio-Neurology Division Director, Clinical Proteomics Research Center, Harvard Medical School Professor
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation

Professor Psyche Loui
Director of the MIND Lab (Music, Imaging and Neural Dynamics)
Northeastern University

Professor Melissa Ferrick
Singer-Songwriter, Educator and Music Industry Executive
Music Industry Executive at Paladin Artists Agency. Has held positions at Northeastern, Berklee College of Music, and Harvard University.