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This Is Your Brain on Music, According To A Neuroscientist
Have you ever wondered what effect music has on your brain? Daniel J Levitin did.
And given that the former rocker is now a neuroscientist, he was very well positioned to answer that question too.
The result was This Is Your Brain On Music.
Why We Love This Is Your Brain on Music
Daniel Levitin asserts that a love of music is, essentially, a love of being human (and we couldn’t agree more).
He discovered how it is that composers exploit the pleasure centers of our brains when they create the music we listen to.
One of the most interesting questions he answers is why we become so attached to the music that we listen to during our formative, teenage years.
And he learned that anyone can be good at music because it’s a question of talent not skill that makes a musical expert.
This Is Your Brain On Music is fantastic fun and alongside Oliver Sacks’ Musicophilia, it’s the most comprehensive look at why our brains love music as you can get.
You can grab a copy online here.
We love this book and we also love these books Silence, Visions of Jazz and the books on our most essential music books list, we think you will too. Why not check them out?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is *This Is Your Brain on Music* about?
*This Is Your Brain on Music* explains how the brain processes music—covering rhythm, harmony, pitch, timbre, and emotion through the lens of neuroscience and cognitive psychology.
*This Is Your Brain on Music* explains how the brain processes music—covering rhythm, harmony, pitch, timbre, and emotion through the lens of neuroscience and cognitive psychology.
Who is Daniel Levitin?
Daniel J. Levitin is a musician-turned-neuroscientist and writer who holds a PhD in cognitive psychology and explores music’s impact on the brain, memory, and emotion.
Daniel J. Levitin is a musician-turned-neuroscientist and writer who holds a PhD in cognitive psychology and explores music’s impact on the brain, memory, and emotion.
Why is the book considered accessible?
Levitin presents complex science in clear, engaging prose—requiring no background in music or neuroanatomy—making neuroscience approachable to general readers.
Levitin presents complex science in clear, engaging prose—requiring no background in music or neuroanatomy—making neuroscience approachable to general readers.
What unique phenomena does the book discuss?
It introduces concepts like earworms (tunes stuck in your head) and the “Levitin effect”—people remembering a song’s key even without musical training.
It introduces concepts like earworms (tunes stuck in your head) and the “Levitin effect”—people remembering a song’s key even without musical training.
How does the book link music and emotion?
Levitin explores how music activates brain regions tied to emotion, pattern recognition, memory, and even pleasure systems like dopamine and serotonin.
Levitin explores how music activates brain regions tied to emotion, pattern recognition, memory, and even pleasure systems like dopamine and serotonin.
What makes *This Is Your Brain on Music* enduring today?
Published in 2006 and still widely used as a textbook, it’s praised for blending science and storytelling and remaining one of the most readable explorations of music cognition.
Published in 2006 and still widely used as a textbook, it’s praised for blending science and storytelling and remaining one of the most readable explorations of music cognition.
