SSHRC-funded researcher Daniel Levitin honoured for outstanding science writing

A guide to recognizing fake news by neuroscientist and SSHRC-funded scholar Daniel Levitin has won the National Business Book Award. In his book, A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age, Levitin outlines the many pitfalls of the information age, and provides the means to spot and avoid them.

Levitin’s book was also shortlisted for a Canadian Science Writers’ Association Book Award and the 2016-17 Donner Prize.

Levitin is James McGill Professor Emeritus of Neuroscience and Music at McGill University, and the founding dean of arts and humanities at the Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute in San Francisco.

He has published numerous bestselling books, including This is Your Brain on Music and The World in Six Songs, both of which feature SSHRC-funded research.

In 2011, Levitin received an Insight Development Grant to lead a study on how playing and listening to music can have benefits for an individual’s mental and physical health. In particular, his team found that music improves the body’s immune system function and reduces levels of stress.

Visit Daniel Levitin’s website to learn more about his research.