Daniel Levitin

"knowing that what you are doing is the most important thing for you to be doing at that moment is surprisingly powerful."

Dr. Daniel Levitin is a neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal, dean at Minerva Schools in San Francisco and a musician. His research focuses on pattern processing in the brain.

His three books This Is Your Brain on Music, The World in Six Songs, and the recent The Organized Mind are all bestsellers. A polymath at heart, he has performed with top musicians and holds a few gold and platinum records.

Levitin earned his B.A. in Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Science at Stanford University, and went on to earn his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Oregon, researching complex auditory patterns and pattern processing in expert and non-expert populations. He completed post-doctoral training at Stanford University Medical School (in Neuroimaging) and at UC Berkeley (in Cognitive Psychology).

He has consulted on audio sound source separation for the U.S. Navy, and on audio quality for several rock bands and record labels (including the Grateful Dead and Steely Dan), and served as one of the “Golden Ears” expert listeners in the original Dolby AC3 compression tests. He worked for two years at the Silicon Valley think tank Interval Research Corporation. He taught at Stanford University in the Department of Computer Science, the Program in Human-Computer Interaction, and the Departments of Psychology, Anthropology, Computer Music, and History of Science.

What topics and genres does Daniel Levitin write in?

Levitin writes popular science and neuroscience books, especially on music cognition, pattern processing in the brain, information management, and aging.

Which book should I start with if I am new to his work?

If you are interested in music and the brain start with This Is Your Brain on Music. For music and human evolution try The World in Six Songs. For practical strategies on attention and information overload start with The Organized Mind. For brain health and aging read The Changing Mind.

Are his books part of a series or standalone works?

They are standalone books. They share related themes from neuroscience and music but do not form a sequential series.

What recurring themes appear in his books?

Recurring themes include pattern processing in the brain, how music shapes human nature, cognitive strategies for managing information, and neuroscience of aging.