Indre Viskontas is a Lithuanian-Canadian

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, neural circuits, and glial ...

and operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

. She holds a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience and a M.M. in

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

. She is a Professor of Psychology at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

and serves on the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is also the Creative Director of Pasadena Opera.

Early life

Viskontas's parents emigrated from

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

just after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and Viskontas grew up in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Scientific career

Viskontas's research has explored the neurological basis of memory, reasoning and self-identity, while also studying creativity in people with

neurodegeneration A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophi ...

. Techniques used in her research include

single-unit recording In neuroscience, single-unit recordings provide a method of measuring the electro-physiological responses of a single neuron using a microelectrode system. When a neuron generates an action potential, the signal propagates down the neuron as a cu ...

in patients with epilepsy, high-resolution

functional magnetic resonance imaging Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area o ...

, eye-movement tracking,

voxel-based morphometry Voxel-based morphometry is a computational approach to neuroanatomy that measures differences in local concentrations of brain tissue, through a voxel-wise comparison of multiple brain images. In traditional morphometry, volume of the whole br ...

, and various behavioral tasks in healthy adults, patients with epilepsy, and patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as

frontotemporal dementia Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), or frontotemporal degeneration disease, or frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder, encompasses several types of dementia involving the progressive degeneration of frontal and temporal lobes. FTDs broadly present as ...

, semantic dementia and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

. She has published over 50 research articles and book chapters. Her research projects also include teaching people with cochlear implants how to sing. Viskontas is affiliated with the Memory and Aging Program at the University of California at San Francisco and is an editor of the journal ''

Neurocase ''Neurocase'' is a peer-reviewed journal specializing in case studies in the neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry and behavioral neurology of adults and children. The publisher also maintains a database of all patients from the various studies and arti ...

''.

Musical career

Born to a choral conductor, Viskontas sang in choirs since she was 5 years old. She has studied opera since she was a young child and performed for the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Cent ...

when she was only 11 years old. She continued to study music throughout her life even while working towards her Ph.D. in neuroscience. Upon receiving her Ph.D. from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), she began working on her Master of Music degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She earned that degree in 2008, once again graduating as her class valedictorian. Viskontas has performed as a soprano for numerous roles, including Beth in Mark Adamo's ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the live ...

'', Kate in John Estacio's ''Frobisher'', Heart's Desire in Arthur Sullivan's ''

The Rose of Persia ''The Rose of Persia''; ''or, The Story-Teller and the Slave'', is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Basil Hood. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 29 November 1899, closing on 28 June 1900 after a profitabl ...

'' and Aurelia in Purcell's '' Dioclesian''. She is a soloist with San Francisco chamber groups and is the co-founder and director of ''Vocallective'', an organization of musicians that promotes the art of vocal chamber music. Indre Viskontas is also a co-founder of ''Opera on Tap'', "a non-profit organization whose mission is to make opera as ubiquitous and accessible as pop music". She is also the Creative Director of Pasadena Opera. At Pasadena Opera, she has directed an opera, based on an

Oliver Sacks Oliver Wolf Sacks, (9 July 1933 – 30 August 2015) was a British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer. Born in Britain, Sacks received his medical degree in 1958 from The Queen's College, Oxford, before moving to the Uni ...

case study, called '' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat''.

Media and appearances

Viskontas uses her performance skills to communicate science through online lectures and as host of two podcasts and a television series. She co-hosted a television show called ''Miracle Detectives'' with Randall Sullivan. Six episodes aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network beginning in January 2011. The show's topics included claims of

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

healing and other reported

miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

. According to Viskontas, her role on ''Miracle Detectives'' was to "get people to think more deeply about what they believe without threat or disrespect." In 2012 Viskontas joined Chris Mooney as co-host of '' Point of Inquiry'', "The Radio Show and Podcast of the

Center for Inquiry The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a US nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal, as well as to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 19 ...

". In June 2013 Viskontas, Mooney, and show producer Adam Isaak resigned from the Center for Inquiry and started their own new podcast, Inquiring Minds. The first episode of the new podcast was released in September 2013. Viskontas has appeared on television shows including ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

'', ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American first-run syndicated news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Paramount Streaming. ET also airs in Aus ...

'', '' CNN'', ''

Access Hollywood ''Access Hollywood'', formerly known as ''Access'' from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was create ...

'', '' E!'', and ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

''. She has contributed to podcasts including ''Token Skeptic'', ''

This Week in Science Kirsten "Kiki" Sanford is an American neurophysiologist and science communicator. After working at the University of California, Davis as a research scientist, she left research work to pursue a career in science communication. Her work has in ...

'', and ''Strange Frequencies Radio''. Viskontas participated in a panel discussion on skepticism and the media at the 2011

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the US non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "pro ...

convention

CSICon CSICon or CSIConference is an annual skeptical conference typically held in the United States. CSICon is hosted by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), which is a program of the Center for Inquiry (CFI). CSI publishes the magazine ''Skepti ...

in New Orleans. She participated again at CSICon 2012 in Nashville on a panel discussion on memory and belief. She has also appeared in the NPR program ''City Arts & Lectures'' and ''The Sunday Edition'' on the CBC in Canada. In 2017, she co-hosted the web series ''Science in Progress'' for

Tested.com Tested.com (often simply called Tested) is a website and YouTube channel that focuses on maker culture and technology. The company was started by Will Smith and Norman Chan in 2010, with Mythbusters hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman joining th ...

and VRV.

Books

In 2019, Viskontas authored the book ''How Music Can Make You Better'' – ', in which she talks about how music affects our brains, bodies and society at large. She mentions the different purposes of music including multi-sensory,

visual The visual system comprises the sensory organ (the eye) and parts of the central nervous system (the retina containing photoreceptor cells, the optic nerve, the optic tract and the visual cortex) which gives organisms the sense of sight ...

, auditory and

healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells ...

benefits.

References

External links

Personal Web Page

Clip from Miracle Detectives on The Oprah Winfrey Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viskontas, Indre Living people Canadian atheists Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian neuroscientists Canadian women neuroscientists Canadian operatic sopranos Canadian skeptics Canadian people of Lithuanian descent Lithuanian emigrants to Canada Musicians from Toronto Naturalized citizens of Canada San Francisco Conservatory of Music faculty Science and technology in the San Francisco Bay Area Year of birth missing (living people)