Assistant Professor
Education and Training
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
Biography
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 & Neck Surgery at the School of Medicine. She is an Auditory Cognitive Neuroscientist, and her research interests include the neuroscience of artistic creativity, music perception in cochlear implant users, and music, aging, and health.
Dr. Barrett has also taught as collegiate faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, co-teaching a Music and the Brain class with Dr. Indre Viskontas (2019-2022). Before moving to San Francisco in the Spring of 2016, Dr. Barrett served as adjunct faculty at Peabody Institute of Music and Johns Hopkins University, teaching introductory music cognition seminars to graduate and undergraduate students. Dr. Barrett received her Ph.D. in Music Theory and Cognition from Northwestern University in March 2015. Dr. Barrett's graduate work used perceptual and neural experiments (EEG) to study attention to complex multivoiced music as well as the impact of musical training on neural plasticity.
Dr. Barrett has also taught as collegiate faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, co-teaching a Music and the Brain class with Dr. Indre Viskontas (2019-2022). Before moving to San Francisco in the Spring of 2016, Dr. Barrett served as adjunct faculty at Peabody Institute of Music and Johns Hopkins University, teaching introductory music cognition seminars to graduate and undergraduate students. Dr. Barrett received her Ph.D. in Music Theory and Cognition from Northwestern University in March 2015. Dr. Barrett's graduate work used perceptual and neural experiments (EEG) to study attention to complex multivoiced music as well as the impact of musical training on neural plasticity.
Research Interests
July 15, 2025 - March 31, 2030 - Impact of Improvisation Music Therapy for Persons Living with Dementia and their Care Partners , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K01AG088475
October 1, 2025 - October 1, 2027 - Using AI to Enhance Preferred Voices in Noisy Environments for Cochlear Implant Users , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: UCSF Chancellor's Office: 2025 Carroll Award for Innovation, Sponsor Award ID: unknown
September 1, 2018 - December 1, 2026 - Improvisation Across Art Forms , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: National Endowment for the Arts: Research Labs, Sponsor Award ID: 1844330-38-C-18
June 17, 2024 - June 17, 2026 - Feasibility and Acceptability Testing of a Culturally Tailored Music Therapy Intervention for Persons Living with Dementia and their Care Partners , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: UCSF School of Nursing Research Committee Intramural Grant, Sponsor Award ID: unknown
September 1, 2023 - May 31, 2024 - Impact of Music Improvisation Training on Brain Function and Cognition among Older Adults , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH/NIA, Sponsor Award ID: 4R33AG073669-03
Publications
Cross-modal plasticity in a blind jazz pianist and prodigy.
Publication Year
2026
Neural substrates of Indian classical percussive Improvisation: A case study investigation of tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain.
Publication Year
2026
Overcoming the Challenge of Singing Among Cochlear Implant Users: An Analysis of the Disrupted Feedback Loop and Strategies for Improvement.
Publication Year
2025