Daniel J. Levitin

Dr. Daniel Levitin is a neuroscientist, best-selling author, and musician. His research addresses fundamental questions in auditory memory, musical structure, and the connections between music, the brain, and health. He has published over 300 scientific articles in journals such as Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Neuron, and Cognition. He is James McGill Professor Emeritus at McGill University, Founding Dean of Minerva University in San Francisco, and Adjunct Professor of Neurosciences in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA Geffen School of Medicine.

He writes about health, science, and medicine for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The Wall Street Journal, and appears regularly on NPR and CBC Radio. His research has been featured 17 times in The New York Times. He is the author of five consecutive bestselling books: "This Is Your Brain On Music," "The World in Six Songs," "The Organized Mind," "Successful Aging," and "A Field Guide to Lies". His new book is "I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine". His books have been translated into 30 languages and have sold more than 3 million copies.

Prior to entering academia, Levitin was a record producer and engineer, and has worked with artists such as Blue Öyster Cult, Santana, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, and Joni Mitchell. He has been awarded 17 gold and platinum records. He sings, plays saxophone, guitar, piano, and bass, and has performed with Mel Tormé, Bobby McFerrin, Rosanne Cash, Sting, Renée Fleming, Victor Wooten, Neil Young, and David Byrne. He has released two solo albums of his own songs, Turnaround and sex and math.