Aniruddh Patel

Aniruddh Patel joined Tufts University in the fall of 2012 as an associate professor of psychology. Previously he was a senior fellow at The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego. As a cognitive neuroscientist, he conducts research that focuses on the relationship between music and language, using this interface to explore the mental foundations of both of these distinctively human abilities. He has used a range of methods in his research, including human brain imaging, theoretical analyses, acoustic research, and comparative work with other species.

Patel has served as president of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition and is the author of Music, Language and the Brain (Oxford University Press), which won a Deems-Taylor award from ASCAP in 2008. He is the 2009 recipient of the Music Has Power Award from the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function in New York City. Patel received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in organismic and evolutionary biology, and a B.A. in biology from the University of Virginia. He serves on editorial boards for Cognition, Music Perception, and Empirical Musicology Review.