Advances in neuroscience and neuroaesthetics continue to expand our understanding of how the senses actually work, how we work as people. The senses talk, influence and compete with one another. It’s fascinating to look at the senses as a biological language of sorts, one that all humans already speak.
In the field of design, the multisensory trend settles against visual culture as a commitment to new ways of understanding and interpreting experiences, since it is clear that a complete experience is not limited to one or two senses. Our perception of space is carried out through the more than our 5 organ-based senses, not just sight, a sense to which we have given special preference in Western culture. Today many designers have begun to explore the different sensitive dimensions of objects, which allow them to go much further than visual aesthetics. It is a design that focuses on improving the wellbeing of the user.
What are the effects of multimodal perception that would not be present if perceptual processing were only unimodal?
No matter whether you are looking at the actions of neurons or the behavior of individuals, it has been found that responses to multimodal stimuli are typically greater than the combined response to either modality independently. In other words, if you presented the stimulus in one modality at a time and measured the response to each of these unimodal stimuli, you would find that adding them together would still not equal the response to the multimodal stimulus. This multisensory enhancement effect, produced by multisensory integration, indicates that there are benefits resulting from the integrated processing of multimodal stimuli.
A surprisingly large number of brain regions in the midbrain and cerebral cortex are related to multimodal perception. These regions contain neurons that respond to stimuli from not just one, but multiple sensory modalities. For example, a region called the superior temporal sulcus contains single neurons that respond to both the visual and auditory components of speech. These multisensory convergence zones are interesting, because they are a kind of neural intersection of information coming from the different senses. That is, neurons that are devoted to the processing of one sense at a time—say vision or touch—send their information to the convergence zones, where it is processed together.
Multisensory integration precision is associated with better cognitive performance in babies, youth, teenagers, young adults and older adults. A recent study that focused on senior communities experiencing dementia noted that age-related sensory decline impacts cognitive performance and exposes individuals to a greater risk of cognitive decline.
Multisensory environments such as Snoezelen rooms are becoming increasingly popular in health care facilities for individuals seeking sensory comfort. A two-stage research project examined how effective two types of multisensory environments were in improving the wellbeing of older individuals living with dementia. The two multisensory environments were a Snoezelen room and a landscaped garden. These environments were compared to the experience of the normal living environment. The observed response of 24 residents with dementia in a nursing home was measured during time spent in the Snoezelen room, in the garden, and in the living room. In the second part of the project, face-to-face interviews were conducted with six caregivers and six visitors to obtain their responses to the multisensory environments. These interviews identified the sensory components of the environments most used and enjoyed by residents and the ways in which they could be improved to maximize wellbeing. The findings of this research highlight the value of combining sensory stimulation to enhance perceived wellness. The interviews with the carers and visitors reveal the depth of pleasure experienced by participants in the garden and Snoezelen room, and emphasize the benefits of some of the multisensory activities or equipment used in those environments.
Neosensory is a California-based tech company led by Stanford neuroscientist Dr. David Eagleman, who partnered with engineers at the forefront of hearing and sensory technology to create a wearable meant to treat tinnitus not within your ears, but from the brain itself. Dr. Eagleman explains that “one of the leading causes of tinnitus is prolonged exposure to loud environments. As you’d expect, the most affected populations include military personnel, construction workers and, you guessed it, musicians and concertgoers.”
Neosensory condenses decades of neuroscience research into a sleek wristband to deliver hearing solutions that are brand new, simple and backed by science. Their research began with the idea that our experience of reality can go beyond our sensory limitations. Tinnitus is best described as the perception of hearing sound without any actual, external noise. Those who have tinnitus experience a wide range of sounds and symptoms, including a sharp ringing, whistling, buzzing, whooshing, or clicking noise. The sounds can be barely audible, or loud, near-constant, or they can come and go. According to the American Tinnitus Association (ATA), nearly 50 million people have experienced some form of tinnitus, with as many as 20 million experiencing debilitating cases.
Most research on the health benefits of natural environments has focused on people’s visual habitats. Many studies have correlated indicators of mental health with starkly contrasting visual variables such as grassland versus woodland, or vegetation versus concrete. But humans experience their surroundings through sound, smell, vision and touch; and input from each of these sensory channels may amplify, modify and/or override the others. Many of the leading theories of how green spaces enhance mental health are grounded on the concept that humans are “hardwired” by their evolutionary history to derive cognitive benefits from the environments that enhanced the survival of early humans.
The multisensory integration trend has even made its way into healthcare. “Multisensory Recharge Rooms” are a restorative space for team members to relax, refocus and recharge during their breaks, lunch, and before and after shifts. The private rooms offer immersive and multisensory environments that are customizable and encourage social connection. The design and technology – which incorporate music, aromatherapy, calming visuals, and sounds – use research in neurology and psychology to address trauma, anxiety, stress, and loneliness, and improve cognitive performance. Banner Health recently announced the opening of an immersive “Studio Elsewhere Recharge Rooms” for hospital employees, offering private spaces with sensory-driven experiences involving relaxing music and sounds, aroma, visuals, and lighting. Rooms are designed using neuroscience research to address trauma, anxiety, stress and cognitive performance.
A new study published in the journal PLoS ONE has reported on the first human tests of an experimental therapy using sound and light to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD). The initial findings are promising, with the unique treatment leading to some neurological and cognitive improvements. The MIT team, led by Dr. Li-huei Tsai, started with light and later on explored the effects of adding sound stimuli to the treatment. The results revealed similar effects, with an hour's exposure to 40 Hz tones per day significantly reducing amyloid build-up in both the auditory cortex and hippocampus of mouse brains. In decades of research with collaborators, postdocs, and students, Tsai has led several fundamental and translatable discoveries about biological mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration including specific aberrations in epigenetic gene regulation, enzyme pathways, and repair of DNA damage. Tsai and collaborators have also uncovered substantial evidence that impaired neuronal synchrony may underlie Alzheimer’s progression, an insight that has allowed her to demonstrate a non-invasive treatment approach using multisensory stimulation (light and sound) to drive neural oscillations, engage the brain’s immune system, reduce pathology, and improve functionality in multiple mouse models. Tsai, who also directs the Aging Brain Initiative at MIT, is actively testing the technique in humans.
The insights from neuroscience will no doubt help designers and engineers make scientifically informed decisions that improve people’s lives by designing around the senses. It will also influence the way tech giants approach future tech and notification design. By now we’re starting to accept that multisensory design is capable of shifting the dynamics of entire industries, both from producer and consumer perspectives. As we move to new plains of technological brilliance and wellness 3.0, expect to see the multisensory integration trend grow into its own wellness category, “Sensory Wellness”—keeping pace with ever more creative and thought-provoking research and ingenious sensory tech developments that put human wellbeing front and center.
Each year, the Global Wellness Summit (GWS) identifies new trends that will have a meaningful impact on the multi-trillion-dollar wellness industry. Significantly, this is the only wellness forecast that draws from the insights of the hundreds of executives who attend the GWS each year. Our long track record of accurately predicting trends makes this report the “go to” authority on wellness trends for media, investors and wellness industry leaders. In addition, the GWS Trends incorporate the perspectives of renowned economists, medical and wellness professionals, academics and leaders across all sectors of the wellness industry.
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