How Music Makes Me a Better Neuroscientist

Presented by TEDx San Francisco

Music isn’t music until your brain makes it so.”

In this TEDx talk, Neuroscientist and vocalist Indre Viskontas explores the correlation between music and the human brain, from the perspective of both a scientist and a performer.

Dr. Indre Viskontas is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of San Francisco and Professor of Sciences and Humanities at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she is pioneering the application of neuroscience to musical training. Professor Viskontas received her Bachelor of Science degree with a Specialist in Psychology and a minor in French Literature at Trinity College in the University of Toronto. She also holds a Masters of Music degree in vocal performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She completed her PhD in cognitive neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she studied the neural basis of memory and reasoning. Her post-doctoral work at the University of California, San Francisco explored the paradoxical facilitation of creativity in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Professor Indre Viskontas’ courses with The Great Courses are 12 Essential Scientific Concepts and Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience