This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

A musician, cognitive scientist, and author, Daniel Levitin used his experience in academia and the music industry to inform This Is Your Brain on Music. The work is written from Levitin’s perspective, focusing on his research areas and incorporating personal anecdotes and recollections of his own experiences in both cognitive science and music.

Levitin is one of the most successful and well-known researchers currently studying music perception and cognition. His discovery, “the Levitin effect,” has had a lasting impact on the study of auditory memory by showing that even untrained listeners remember songs in the correct key, meaning that such information is not lost in the encoding process, as previously thought. His work was included in The Millennium Project’s list of “Top 100 Papers in Cognitive Science,” and his paper earned the European Acoustics Association Award for Outstanding Scientific Results in 2008. Levitin earned an undergraduate degree in cognitive science from Stanford University in 1992 and a master’s degree and PhD in cognitive psychology (with a PhD minor in music technology) from the University of Oregon. Since then, he has trained, worked, and lectured in some of the most prestigious academic institutions in North America. He currently works as the founding dean of arts and humanities at Minerva University in California and as the James McGill professor emeritus of psychology, neuroscience, and music at McGill University.

In addition to his academic record, Levitin has had a successful career in the music industry. He studied numerous musical instruments throughout his childhood and teens, including piano, clarinet, saxophone, and guitar, and spent much of his early twenties touring and performing in bands. He has played alongside numerous music industry stars, including Sting and Blue Oyster Cult, and still performs regularly. As a songwriter, music producer, and music engineer, he has received 17 gold and platinum records, working with musical artists and on motion pictures. In his work as a highly sought-after musical consultant, he has worked with Microsoft, the United States Navy, AT&T, Apple, and many other multinational entities.

Levitin is both highly skilled and experienced in communicating his expertise to a wide audience. He has published more than 300 articles in respected papers and journals, including Science, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal. In addition, he’s a gifted public speaker and has addressed both the London Parliament and the US Congress. He has appeared multiple times on talk shows, including Good Morning America and CNN programs, and is a frequent guest on NPR and CBC radio. He worked as a host and consultant on several award-winning documentaries, including the Hugo Television Award-winning The Musical Brain (2009) and The Music Instinct (2010), which won the Cine Special Jury Prize for Arts & Culture and first place at the Pariscience Film Festival.

Levitin has written six internationally best-selling and award-winning popular science books on music, psychology, neurology, and well-being. His first book, This Is Your Brain on Music (published in 2006), was nominated for both the Quill Award for Best Debut Author and the Los Angeles Times award for Best Book on Science and Technology. His 2017 book Weaponized Lies (originally titled A Field Guide to Lies) won the National Business Book Award, the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction, and the silver medal in the ethics category of the Axiom Business Book Awards.