Insights from the 2025 Convergence Summit: The Mind

Have you ever been in a hospital with a pottery studio and music room? What about one with a DJ recording studio and performances by famous music artists? While it may seem like something out of a TV show, these artistic additions aren’t seen as unnecessary luxuries but rather necessities at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where Dr. David Wolf, Division Chief of Neurology, claims “the healing starts when you walk in the door.” Effective medicine goes beyond healing the body – it is also necessary to treat the mind. For children in the hospital or dealing with trauma, art may be the key.

I recently attended the Rowen Foundation’s 2025 Convergence Summit themed “The Science of Art in Discovery, Research, & Innovation,” where scientists, doctors, and other professionals shared how we can integrate aesthetic experiences with scientific practice to improve patient care, better our understanding of the brain, and build community. If you’ve ever attended a scientific conference, you might be familiar with the hour-long keynote lectures with powerpoint slides and a barely visible laser pointer, followed by crowded coffee breaks. Conversely, the Convergence Summit discussion began with a casual keynote conversation, featuring NeuroArts pioneer Dr. Susan Magsaman, and Woodruff Arts Center President Hala Moddelmog. In between each conversation and panel, I participated in group activation breaks like a humming meditation. We all felt a bit silly during the meditation, with an undercurrent of laughter at the beginning of each, but at the end of the session, I felt surprisingly refocused and ready for the next conversation.

The first conversation of the day already changed my perspective on how I perceive art. I am a casual practitioner, doodling in the margins of a notebook or plucking at an out-of-tune guitar. However, Dr. Magsaman’s research shows any form of art-making, regardless of skill-level, creates feelings of reward, reduces stress, and can increase our self-opinion. She jokingly describes herself as the poster child for this, sharing, “I write really shitty poetry… but I do it every day.” The creation and appreciation of art is an intrinsic part of who we are and physiologically linked to our brain structure. When we view art, our brain’s reward system releases “feel-good” neurotransmitters. These tangible benefits of art have also led to the use of creativity as a therapy for those with dementia.

Many hospitals and scientists have already put art therapy to practice. At Children’s, the pediatric hospital employs several forms of art, music, and movement therapy to help patients express their trauma. “We know the arts are essential for healing,” described Dr. Wolf as he shared images of Children’s new Arthur M. Blank Hospital. As he spoke, I was amazed by the hospital campus which looked futuristic yet warm, encouraging healing and creativity.

Dr. Chris Rozell, professor of neuroscience at the Georgia Institute of Technology, also described how art informs his work on treatment-resistant depressions and understanding patients’ experiences. Brain imaging can be used to see physical abnormalities in patients’ brains, providing targets for implantable devices that spark activity in areas of the brain to treat depression. Beyond the visual innovations in technology, art is also used as therapy for his patients that struggle to verbally articulate their experiences. Dr. Rozell believes, “we don’t have the language to properly describe what it’s like to experience [depression], so we turn to artwork…this is the source of much of our famous artwork in the world”.

Beyond therapy, music guides engineering and scientific discovery for neuroscience professor Dr. Sam Sober at Emory University. During the panel, he described his team’s mini biosensors, developed to study sensory signals from birds while they sing, as akin to the “world’s smallest DJ headset.” Patterns of brain activity, vocal muscle contractions, and the resulting music can help uncover exactly how our brains direct our body’s motions. These biosensors are feats of engineering that outperform current medical standards for such measurements. Through further development and application, their technology could have deep impacts beyond their study.

Before the Convergence Summit, I knew that art was good for us, but I imagined the concept as more of a “Chicken Soup for the Soul” effect rather than a biological process that produces real changes in our bodies and brains. In the future, as I doodle during work meetings or listen to birds during my morning coffee, I’ll consider it all as a convergence of art and science that enriches my life.