Karen Barrett, PhD
Assistant Professor
Institute for Health & Aging
School of Nursing
Karen Chan Barrett, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in the Institute for Health & Aging at the UCSF School of Nursing and the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at the UCSF School of Medicine. She is an auditory cognitive neuroscientist whose research examines how music engages the brain and how musical experiences can support health and well-being across the lifespan.
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Her research spans three interconnected areas: the neuroscience of musical creativity and improvisation, music perception and auditory rehabilitation in people with cochlear implants, and the use of music to support cognitive, social, and emotional well-being in older adults, including people living with cognitive impairment and dementia. Her work integrates behavioral, neuroimaging, and intervention-based approaches to understand the neural mechanisms of music and its potential clinical applications.
Awards
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- Young Investigator Award, Society for Neuroscience of Creativity, 2025
- Associate Editor, Creativity Research Journal, Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience of Creativity, 2024
- ADRC REC Fellowship, University of California, San Francisco, 2024
- Presidential Fellowship Nominee, Northwestern University, 2012-2013
- Advanced Cognitive Science Fellowship, Northwestern University, 2010-2011
- Irving Lowens Endowed Memorial Prize in Musicology, Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University, 2008-2009
- Rhodes Scholarship Finalist, Wellesley College, 2005-2006
Education & Training
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- Ph.D. Music Cognition and Theory, Bienen School of Music Northwestern University
- M.Mus Musicology Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University
- M.Mus Piano Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University
- Postdoctoral Fellowship Auditory Neuroscience University of California, San Francisco
- B.A. Music and Neuroscience Wellesley College
Interests
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- music and aging
- music and neural plasticity
- data analysis
- neuroscience of creativity and improvisation
- cochlear implants
- data science
- musical talent
- music and health
Websites
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- UCSF Sound and Music Perception Lab (ohns.ucsf.edu)
- Institute for Health & Aging (iha.ucsf.edu)
Grants and Projects
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- Impact of Improvisation Music Therapy for Persons Living with Dementia and their Care Partners, NIH, 2025-2030
- Using AI to Enhance Preferred Voices in Noisy Environments for Cochlear Implant Users, UCSF Chancellor's Office: 2025 Carroll Award for Innovation, 2025-2027
- Improvisation Across Art Forms, National Endowment for the Arts: Research Labs, 2018-2026
- Feasibility and Acceptability Testing of a Culturally Tailored Music Therapy Intervention for Persons Living with Dementia and their Care Partners, UCSF School of Nursing Research Committee Intramural Grant, 2024-2026
- Impact of Music Improvisation Training on Brain Function and Cognition among Older Adults, NIH/NIA, 2023-2024
Publications (21)
Top publication keywords:
Limbic SystemMusicBrainPsychomotor PerformanceCreativityNerve NetConnectomeEmotionsCochlear ImplantationSpeech PerceptionPrefrontal CortexCochlear ImplantsPitch PerceptionDeafnessReward
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Performance Phenotypes and Early Prognostic Benchmarking After Adult Cochlear Implantation.
The Laryngoscope 2026 Younan S, Chang-Chien C, Kaufman L, Doan P, Ushijima K, Im C, Lee ED, Barrett KC, Jiam NT -
Refinement of a piano improvisation training intervention to reduce cognitive inactivity among older adults with and without mild cognitive impairments.
Innovation in aging 2026 Shiff HM, Allison TA, Bugos JA, Cheng J, Hall T, Pearson G, Barrett KC, Limb CJ, Mauleón R, Johnson JK -
Cross-modal plasticity in a blind jazz pianist and prodigy.
Neuroimage. Reports 2026 Chan Barrett K, Giduturi C, Jiam NT, Hahn L, Payne W, Purnell S, Jiradejvong P, Limb CJ -
Neural substrates of Indian classical percussive Improvisation: A case study investigation of tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain.
Brain and cognition 2026 Barrett KC, Dewan V, Jiradejvong P, Sanghani S, Limb CJ -
Overcoming the Challenge of Singing Among Cochlear Implant Users: An Analysis of the Disrupted Feedback Loop and Strategies for Improvement.
Brain sciences 2025 Younan SM, Lin EY, Barry B, Kurup A, Barrett KC, Jiam NT
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Personalizing Cochlear Implant Care in Single-Sided Deafness: A Distinct Paradigm from Bilateral Hearing Loss.
Journal of personalized medicine 2025 Lin EY, Younan SM, Barrett KC, Jiam NT -
Perfecting Sensory Restoration and the Unmet Need for Personalized Medicine in Cochlear Implant Users: A Narrative Review.
Brain sciences 2025 Podury A, Barry B, Barrett KC, Jiam NT -
Children engage neural reward structures for creative musical improvisation.
Scientific reports 2025 Barrett KC, Jiradejvong P, Jacobs L, Limb CJ -
Predictors of Emotional Prosody Identification by School-Age Children With Cochlear Implants and Their Peers With Normal Hearing.
Ear and hearing 2023 Chatterjee M, Gajre S, Kulkarni AM, Barrett KC, Limb CJ -
Cochlear Implant Compression Optimization for Musical Sound Quality in MED-EL Users.
Ear and hearing 2022 Gilbert ML, Deroche MLD, Jiradejvong P, Chan Barrett K, Limb CJ -
Multi-Voiced Music Bypasses Attentional Limitations in the Brain.
Frontiers in neuroscience 2021 Barrett KC, Ashley R, Strait DL, Skoe E, Limb CJ, Kraus N -
Perception of Child-Directed Versus Adult-Directed Emotional Speech in Pediatric Cochlear Implant Users.
Ear and hearing 2020 Barrett KC, Chatterjee M, Caldwell MT, Deroche MLD, Jiradejvong P, Kulkarni AM, Limb CJ -
Impact of Auditory-Motor Musical Training on Melodic Pattern Recognition in Cochlear Implant Users.
Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology 2020 Chari DA, Barrett KC, Patel AD, Colgrove TR, Jiradejvong P, Jacobs LY, Limb CJ -
Encyclopedia of Creativity. Volume 1. Runco, M. Pritzker, S. (Eds),
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and the Neural Correlates of Artistic Creative Production. 2020 Chan Barrett, K., Limb, C.J. -
Classical creativity: A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) investigation of pianist and improviser Gabriela Montero.
NeuroImage 2019 Barrett KC, Barrett FS, Jiradejvong P, Rankin SK, Landau AT, Limb CJ -
Unveiling artistic minds: case studies of creativity.
Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 2019 Karen Chan Barrett, Charles J. Limb -
Association Between Flat-Panel Computed Tomographic Imaging-Guided Place-Pitch Mapping and Speech and Pitch Perception in Cochlear Implant Users.
JAMA otolaryngology-- head & neck surgery 2019 Jiam NT, Gilbert M, Cooke D, Jiradejvong P, Barrett K, Caldwell M, Limb CJ -
A tonal-language benefit for pitch in normally-hearing and cochlear-implanted children.
Scientific reports 2019 Deroche MLD, Lu HP, Kulkarni AM, Caldwell M, Barrett KC, Peng SC, Limb CJ, Lin YS, Chatterjee M -
Dance and Music in "Gangnam Style": How Dance Observation Affects Meter Perception.
PloS one 2015 Lee KM, Barrett KC, Kim Y, Lim Y, Lee K -
Art and science: how musical training shapes the brain.
Frontiers in psychology 2013 Barrett KC, Ashley R, Strait DL, Kraus N -
Specialization among the specialized: auditory brainstem function is tuned in to timbre.
Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior 2011 Strait DL, Chan K, Ashley R, Kraus N