Daniel Levitin
Daniel Levitin is a neuroscientist, musician and author who explores how music, memory and the mind shape our lives.
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Latest
Daniel’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus his backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Overview
- Work
- Neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist, musician and author
- Breakout book
- This Is Your Brain on Music (2006)
- Education
- Stanford B.A.; University of Oregon M.Sc. and Ph.D.
- Academic home
- James McGill Professor Emeritus at McGill University
Mini bio
How it started.
Before the books and brain research, Levitin played guitar and bass in bands, including California punk group the Mortals, and worked in recording. In his Berklee interview, he describes moving between colleges while searching for the right musical education. A year studying guitar at Berklee became a launching point for his career.
From the studio to the lab.
His curiosity about music led him back to university. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Stanford and graduate degrees in cognitive psychology at the University of Oregon, then trained at Stanford University Medical School and UC Berkeley. His research and public writing bring questions about listening, attention and memory into everyday language.
The books fans know.
This Is Your Brain on Music, published in 2006, became a New York Times bestseller. He went on to write about information overload in The Organized Mind and evaluating claims in A Field Guide to Lies. His 2024 book I Heard There Was a Secret Chord returns to music, exploring research into its therapeutic uses.
Still a musician.
Music has stayed part of his working life. He plays tenor saxophone, guitar and bass and sings, and has performed with artists including Sting, Rosanne Cash and Bobby McFerrin. His own albums include Turnaround (2020) and sex & math (2021).
Creditschronological, newest first
Books
- 2024I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as MedicineAuthor
- 2016A Field Guide to LiesAuthor
- 2014The Organized MindAuthor
- 2006This Is Your Brain on MusicAuthor
Music
- 2021sex & mathRecording artist
- 2020TurnaroundRecording artist
Awards
Quotes
Music communicates emotion more directly.Daniel Levitin, Thought Economics
In his interview with Vikas Shah, he discussed how music can express the overlapping feelings that words struggle to capture.
Trivia
- He studied guitar as a performance major at Berklee.
- His instruments include tenor saxophone, guitar and bass.
- I Heard There Was a Secret Chord and Music as Medicine are different market titles for the same book.
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