Daniel Joseph Levitin, FRSC, is an American-Canadian cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, writer, musician, and record producer. Known for his expertise in the field of music cognition, Levitin has authored four New York Times best-selling books, including This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, which has sold more than 1 million copies.

Levitin holds the title of James McGill Professor Emeritus of psychology, behavioral neuroscience and music at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His academic pursuits led him to become the Founding Dean of Arts & Humanities at Minerva University and a Distinguished Faculty Fellow at the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley. As the Director of the Laboratory for Music Perception, Cognition, and Expertise at McGill, he has made significant contributions to the study of music and the brain.

He has served on the Board of Governors of the Grammys and as a consultant to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His reputation as a scholar is further affirmed by his election as a fellow of several prestigious organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Psychological Science, the Psychonomic Society, and the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC). Levitin is also recognized for his frequent guest commentaries on NPR and CBC, and he has published numerous scientific articles on a range of topics including absolute pitch, music cognition, and neuroanatomy.

Levitin's influence extends beyond the academic realm into the music industry. He has worked as a music consultant, producer, and sound designer for various artists, including Blue Öyster Cult, Chris Isaak, and Joe Satriani, and has produced punk bands such as MDC and The Afflicted. His work as a consultant and recording engineer has involved collaboration with artists like Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, and Michael Brook, and he has engineered recordings for Santana, Jonathan Richman, O.J. Ekemode and the Nigerian Allstars, and The Grateful Dead. The records and CDs to which he has contributed have sold more than 30 million copies.

His international bestseller books also include The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature (2008), The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload (2014), A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age (2016), and Successful Aging (2020), which collectively have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.