Biography

Professor Indre Viskontas is a musician and a cognitive neuroscientist. She is affectionately known as Dr. Dre by her students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she is pioneering the application of neuroscience to musical training, and at the University of San Francisco, where she is an Assistant Professor of Psychology. She received a BSc in psychology and French literature from the University of Toronto, an MM degree in vocal performance from SFCM and a PhD in cognitive neuroscience from UCLA. Dr. Viskontas has published more than 50 scientific articles and chapters related to the neural basis of memory and creativity, including several in top scientific journals.  Her book, How Music Can Make You Better, was published by Chronicle in 2019. Her two 24-lecture courses, Essential Scientific Concepts and Brain Myths Exploded have been released by The Great Courses, and are among the top nonfiction titles on Audible.com. She is also the Creative Director of Pasadena Opera, where she most recently directed The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, a chamber opera based on the case study written by Oliver Sacks. She also co-hosted the docuseries Miracle Detectives on the Oprah Winfrey Network, and Science in Progress on several streaming channels and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, major radio stations across the US, and several other television programs. She is also the host of the popular podcasts Inquiring Minds, with more than 7 million downloads, and Cadence: what music tells us about the mind.