Owen McCarthy was a science and math geek growing up in Patten, Maine when, as a junior, he was invited to attend Engineering Camp at UMaine. He was hooked.
Owen earned a degree in Biological Engineering (now called Biomedical Engineering), a fairly new and rapidly changing field, at UMaine in 2010 followed by an MBA at Harvard Business School in 2015.
While studying at Harvard, Owen’s close UMaine college friend, Brian Harris, was busy working as a Neurologic Music Therapist at Harvard’s Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) is the therapeutic application of music to improve cognitive, sensory, and motor functions that have been affected by neurologic disease or injury. The therapy techniques produce remarkable results, helping people regain function lost due to accidents, strokes, or diseases like Parkinsons or MS.
People might remember when Congresswoman Gabby Giffords suffered a traumatic brain injury from an attack. Giffords’ treatment included NMT which helped her regain her cognitive abilities and the ability to walk and talk. She had a rapid and remarkable recovery.
Photo credit: Owen McCarthyHolly and Owen McCarthy and son Oliver love their new home town of Gorham.
In 2015, Owen and Brian, who share a strong work ethic as well as a commitment to improving the quality of life for people suffering from brain injuries and diseases, joined forces in Boston and co-founded MedRhythms. MedRhythms started as a service, a company, which continues to deliver Neurologic Music Therapy in-person and remotely.
In 2016, Owen and Brian launched the digital therapeutics division of the company, which is developing proprietary software and hardware driven by over 20,000 hours of clinical neuroscience data.
Owen believes that their software and related equipment will make this amazing therapy available to many more of the millions of people in need of neurologic rehab services, no matter where they live.
The broadened scope of the company with the digital division allowed MedRhythms to move its headquarters to Portland, Maine.
The staff has grown to 34 people working in person and remotely, including another Gorham resident, Kathy Garrard, who has recently joined the staff as Office Manager.
MedRhythms is garnering a lot of attention. It has been written about in medical journals, in a wide array of news sources such as The Huffington Post and The Boston Globe, as well as in popular magazines like RollingStone which celebrated MedRhythms’ “use of music for a much more clinical purpose.” It has been featured on MSNBC and Greenlight, Maine.
Owen speaks at digital therapeutics conferences around the country. When asked to explain the science behind the remarkable results and the unique role that music plays, Owen said, “music has the ability to activate the motor region of the brain. Walking to a beat results in the synchronization of the auditory and motor regions of the brain, leading to the formation of new neural connections. These neural pathways can be strengthened over time to improve walking outcomes. This is the result of a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change and heal.”
Simply put, when someone’s ability to walk, talk or think clearly has been lost or impaired, music offers an alternative entry to the brain, helping to create new neural pathways.
For someone who has walking deficits from a brain injury or disease, interventions that use music can help improve walking outcomes such as walking speed. This is important because increased walking speed strongly correlates with decreased fall risk.
Owen likens it to learning how to ride a bike again. If you pedal too slowly, chances are you will be unsteady and may fall. The same is true for walking. Keeping a quicker pace is more stable.
Studies are finding that NMT encourages recovery at a more rapid rate than traditional therapies.
After spending more than 5 years in Boston, Owen and his wife, Holly, came back to Maine. “We wanted to be here – as it is the place we love.”
Gorham was their top choice when they were looking for a place to build their life. “We really wanted to find a place that had a strong community feel with a strong school district and a history of people taking care of each other,” he said.
Additionally, Holly McCarthy, said that “when moving back to Maine we were looking for a community exactly like Gorham”
Owen and Holly, who grew up in Dixfield, live in the Little Falls area. Holly is busy helping people in a different health field, working as an Optometrist at the VA facilities in Lewiston and Augusta.
When they are not working, their almost 2 year old son, Oliver, keeps them very busy.
To learn more about MedRhythms or to reach Owen email him at owen@medrhythms.com.