Daniel Levitin

Daniel Levitin

Professor Daniel J. Levitin, Ph.D. (born December 27, 1957, San Francisco) is a prominent American cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, and writer. He is James McGill Professor of psychology and behavioral neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with additional appointments in music theory, computer science, and education. He is Director of the Laboratory for Music Perception, Cognition and Expertise. He is also an accomplished record producer and musician. From September 2006 to April 2007 he served as a weekly commentator on the CBC Radio One show Freestyle, and he has appeared frequently on NPR.

He has published scientific articles on absolute pitch, music cognition and neuroscience and is more widely known as the author of two best-selling books, This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, (Dutton/Penguin, 2006; Atlantic 2007) and The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature (Dutton/Penguin U.S. and Viking/Penguin Canada, 2008).

Prior to his academic career, he worked as a producer and sound designer on albums by Blue Öyster Cult, Chris Isaak, as a consultant to Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder and Michael Brook; and as a recording engineer for Santana and The Grateful Dead. Records and CDs to which he has contributed have sold in excess of 30 million copies.