Daniel Levitin at Lake Hollywood. Photo credit: David Livingston
Stevie Wonder. Good Will Hunting. Joni Mitchell. Pulp Fiction. While these popular artists and movies seemingly have nothing in common, Daniel Levitin, MS ’93 and PhD ’96 (cognitive psychology), uniquely ties them all together.
The alumnus is also an esteemed neuroscientist, New York Times best-selling author, and a TED Talk guest—his talk, "How to stay calm when you know you’ll be stressed," is one of the Top 50 most-watched TED Talks.
A musician from an early age, Levitin has keen musical abilities. He was even one of the golden ears—someone who can point out subtle changes in audio reproduction—for Dolby AC’s first audio compression tests.
Levitin’s passion for music inspired him to leave his studies at MIT to pursue a career in the music industry in 1976, where he worked as a producer and consultant and was awarded 17 gold and platinum records. He became the president of 415 Records in 1989, before the label was sold to Sony Music.
During his time with 415 Records, he produced the soundtrack for Repo Man (1984) and tracks for Blue Öyster Cult, in addition to consulting on a variety of records. After 415 Records was sold, Levitin formed his own company, where he was a marketing consultant, producer, and engineer for numerous records. Levitin cofounded MoodLogic in 1998, which was one of the first online music recommendation softwares.
When Levitin decided to leave the music business in the 1990s, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to pursue next. However, he had taught a few courses on record production at Stanford University and was encouraged by University of Oregon professor emeritus, Lew Goldberg, to earn his bachelor’s degree.
After receiving his undergraduate degree in cognitive science at Stanford, Levitin moved to Eugene for his master’s degree and PhD in cognitive psychology.
“In my senior year of undergrad, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Levitin said. “Oregon had a program where I could be exposed to many different ideas and topics, and there was so much expertise in the faculty that no matter what I ended up wanting to study, there would be an expert in it.”
While at Oregon, Levitin worked with many professors, both in the psychology department and the music department, where he earned a PhD minor in music technology. One experience at the university that shaped him was meeting Frank Heuser, a professor in the music department, who taught Levitin different ways to approach music psychology.
Levitin also notes that being offered the opportunity to teach an undergraduate summer school class between his third and fourth years of grad school helped him discover his passion for teaching others.
Levitin’s work in music, along with his training in psychology, led him to become the first to document the Levitin effect, a phenomenon about key recognition in music for people, including those who don’t have music training. The phenomenon, which was documented in 1994, was a significant discovery in the cognitive psychology field.
In addition to the Levitin effect, the neuroscientist has published more than 300 published articles and five books, four of which have made the New York Times best-selling list and one is an international best-seller about cognitive psychology.
Many of his writings highlight his research on the benefits of music in aging.
His novel, Successful Aging, was inspired by his parents asking about what they can do to age in the best way possible. Levitin set out on a motivated quest to answer his parents’ questions.
Through his research, Levitin discovered that listening to music and even learning how to play an instrument, such as piano, can improve memory and brain activity in later life. In an interview with PBS, he noted that one of the most interesting observations he’s made in retirement homes is that memories of music tend to stick with the residents.
“Somebody may no longer remember the names of their spouse or family members, and yet, still be able to remember lyrics to songs they knew when they were fourteen,” Levitin said. “Music insinuates itself into memory in a special way. This can be a way to reach out to somebody who is otherwise cut off, emotionally or cognitively, from the people around them.”
Alongside his career in neuroscience, writing, and research, Levitin entered academia in 2000, a field that he continues to work in today.
Levitin spent 17 years as a professor at McGill University in Montreal, where he taught psychology and behavioral neuroscience. While at McGill, Levitin was a founding member of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT) and was awarded three endowed chairs.
“We have an inadequate vocabulary to explain how we’re feeling. It’s why we turn to art, in general, and music, in particular.”
In 2013, Levitin became the Founding Dean of Arts & Humanities at Minerva University in San Francisco. In addition to his work at Minerva, Levitin is the co-inventor and lead scientific consultant at MIIR Audio Technologies, Inc., an intelligent software company that analyzes songs to identify musical phrases that give people the chills.
“We have an inadequate vocabulary to explain how we’re feeling,” Levitin said. “It’s why we turn to art, in general, and music, in particular.” He hopes that his work in music and cognitive psychology helps others better understand the power of music.
Now 64 years old, the psychologist is pursuing many passions and is finding the joy of picking up music again.
“I didn't do it in my mid-twenties because everybody in the music business told me not to. I was afraid of being judged,” Levitin said in an interview with PBS NewsHour. “I knew, as a neuroscientist, what the science of aging had to say: you're going to grow complacent and set in your ways, and you're not going to want to try new things.”
He’s not afraid to try new things. In fact, he has taken his turn in writing comedy, with two of his comedy career highlights being performing at the 1984 Democratic Convention alongside Robin Williams and selling a joke to the Tonight Show host Jay Leno. He also occasionally contributes to Dan Piraro’s Bizarro comic strip, which has been seen in more than 200 newspapers internationally.
With mentors like Joni Mitchell and Rodney Crowell to guide him through the process, Levitin has released two albums, Turnaround, in 2020, and sex & math, in December 2021.
Levitin notes that, like many of his fellow musicians, he hopes his best work is ahead of him.
– By Peyton Hall, UO Alumni Association Student Associate