Conversations on Science: The Nueroscience of Music & Creativity

A cognitive neuroscientist with UCSF and member of the faculty at the San Franciso Conservatory of Music, Indre Viskontas studies how memories, creativity and other cognitive processes are supported by neural networks  using the latest techniques  including direct recordings from neurons in the human brain and high-resolution functional MRIs. She has published ground-breaking work on the neural basis of memory and creativity and has won numerous research and teaching awards.  Viskontas is a classically trained soprano and performs with regional opera companies and chamber music groups in the Bay Area and is the co-founder of Vocallective, a consortium of singers and instrumentalists dedicated to the art of vocal chamber music.

Indre Viskontas will be in conversation with Kelly McGonigal a health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University. She is the author of Yoga for Pain Relief, which translates recent advances in neuroscience and medicine into mind-body strategies and is passionate about translating cutting-edge research from psychology, neuroscience, and medicine into practical strategies for personal health and happiness.