Neurology · Neuroscience · Music · Ideas

Dr.SamanArfaie

MD, CM

Physician.Scientist.Pianist.Author.Thinker.Dreamer.

Dr. Saman Arfaie at the University of California, Berkeley

A life in synthesis

The brain may be studied in signals, but a life is understood in meaning.

I am a neurologist and neuroscientist in training at McGill University, working across neurodegeneration, molecular biomarkers, neuroimaging, and human intracranial electrophysiology. My long-term goal is to build an independent clinician-scientist program connecting disease biology, brain-network physiology, and clinically meaningful neurological phenotype. I also think, write, and make music because a human life exceeds any single method. Science tests what is true. Medicine asks what matters. Music and writing help us hear what the answers mean.

An editorial composition of brain imaging, neural forms, and piano

Research programme

From signal
to significance.

Neurodegeneration & molecular biomarkers

Tracing Alzheimer disease, Lewy body disease, and Parkinson disease through tau, alpha-synuclein, fluid biomarkers, PET, and longitudinal phenotype.

Medial temporal tau GBA1 and immunity

TauAlpha-synucleinPETPrecision medicine

Neuroimaging & brain networks

Connecting distributed brain-network physiology to cognition, behaviour, recovery, and clinically meaningful neurological phenotypes.

Tau PET and memory

MEGMRINetwork physiologyNeuromodulation

Human intracranial electrophysiology

Using signals recorded directly from the human brain to study memory, cognition, and the temporal architecture of neural computation.

Complete scholarship

SEEGMemoryCognitionHuman neuroscience

Clinical trials, AI & translation

Designing clinically meaningful experiments and testing whether artificial intelligence can localize lesions, reason anatomically, and communicate uncertainty.

Alzheimer trial design ChatGPT and education

Clinical trialsLLMsEvaluation scienceTherapeutics

Music cognition & creativity

Studying music as a biological, cognitive, cultural, and therapeutic phenomenon, from auditory processing and creativity to neurological dysfunction and recovery.

Cambridge volume

Auditory cognitionCreativityMusic therapyNeuroaesthetics

Neurosurgery, epilepsy & brain health

Extending a published body of work across pediatric epilepsy surgery, awake craniotomy, cerebrospinal fluid shunting, flow diversion, global neurosurgery, and neurosurgical education.

Epilepsy surgery CSF shunting

Epilepsy surgeryCerebrovascularNeuro-oncologyMedical education

Selected scholarship

Ideas made
public.

Led and collaborative peer-reviewed work across neurodegeneration, epilepsy, neurosurgery, clinical trials, and artificial intelligence.

500Google Scholar citations

12h-index

13i10-index

30Peer-reviewed publications

Complete record on Google Scholar

First author

Long-term Cognitive Outcomes Following Pediatric and Adolescent Epilepsy Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Seizure · 2023

Co-first author

Medial Temporal Tau Predicts Memory Decline in Cognitively Unimpaired Elderly

Brain Communications · 2022

First author

The Hair-sparing Approach Versus Traditional Hair Clipping for Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunting Procedures

Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics · 2024

First author

Early Exposure to Neurosurgery: Assessment of Perceptions, Mentorship and Competence on Medical Student Interest

Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences · 2025

First author

ChatGPT and Neurosurgical Education: A Crossroads of Innovation and Opportunity

Journal of Clinical Neuroscience · 2024

Co-first author

GBA1 and the Immune System: A Potential Role in Parkinson's Disease?

Journal of Parkinson's Disease · 2022

Collaborative study

The Evolution of Randomized Clinical Trial Designs to Assess Therapeutics in Alzheimer Disease

JAMA Network Open · 2025

Anatomy · pathways · networks

One brain. Three perspectives.

Loading anatomical surface…

Explore the connections

Anatomical surface · Drag to rotate · Illustrative illumination.

Imaging data & model credits

Brain Project, Z-Anatomy contributors and BodyParts3D / DBCLS. Display recoloured; model geometry unchanged. Source · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Model

Tractography: Fang-Cheng Yeh, HCP1065 population atlas (2022), via NiiVue’s simplified TRX distribution. Coordinates converted and uniformly scaled for display; streamlines retained. Publication · Source data · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Acknowledgments. Tractography estimates fibre trajectories; it does not depict individual axons or electrical activity.

Books & long-form work

Ideas need
room.

Books and chapters that cross medicine, neuroscience, history, literature, music, and philosophy.

Front cover of Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity

Cambridge University Press · 2026

Music, Medicine,
and the Neurobiology
of Creativity.

This book presents an interdisciplinary survey at the intersection of music, creativity, and medicine. Featuring contributions from medical doctors, psychologists, and musicians, it surveys thought-provoking findings in the music-medical borderlands. Experts in neuroscience explore the cerebral underpinnings of music, from auditory-motor interactions and rhythm to the role of music in therapy, epilepsy, and cognitive disorders. Case studies trace the medical biographies of Beethoven, Schumann, Ravel, and Gershwin. Accompanying studio recordings from the volume editors extend the book from scholarship into sound. Students, researchers, and readers interested in the new frontiers of music in medicine will find original cross-disciplinary connections throughout the volume.

Amazon Top New Release ISBN 9781009407755

Cambridge Amazon

Edited byPhillip L. Pearl, MD Harvard University
Saman Arfaie, MD, CM McGill University

The response

Advance praise.

Hover to pause

“
Research on the processes behind the creation and practice of music is reaching maturity, and so, finally, is the study of the medical applications of music. Dr. Phillip Pearl and Dr. Saman Arfaie bring you up to date in their new volume.
Antonio Damasio, MD, PhDUniversity Professor, David Dornsife Chair in Neuroscience, and Director of the Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California

“
In this wide-ranging book, Dr. Phillip Pearl and Dr. Saman Arfaie have brought together experts in many domains, ranging from neurology and neuroscience to music therapy and education, to examine creativity, with a special focus on music, its functions, and dysfunctions. The result is sure to prove of interest to anyone curious about how this fundamental human capacity for artistic expression emerges from our brain's functional features.
Robert J. Zatorre, PhDProfessor and Canada Research Chair, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University

“
This book takes us on a tour of musical creativity and the brain, lending insight into one of the most interesting aspects of the human experience. From the evolutionary origins of music to modern brain imaging, and from the study of creativity to therapeutic applications for patients with brain disorders, it provides an illuminating overview of the relationship between music and the human brain.
Michael D. Fox, MD, PhDProfessor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School; Director, Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics, Brigham and Women's Hospital

“
Dr. Phillip Pearl and Dr. Saman Arfaie have brought together what may be the definitive volume, representing the state of the art in science, situating music and musical creativity in its biological and neurobiological context. Drawing on their dual identities as accomplished clinician-musicians, they have curated a wide-ranging collection that bridges empirical research with humanistic insight. Both academic and lay audiences will be captivated by this fascinating sampling of what has become a rigorous and mature branch of neuroscience, a text that should not be missed.
William Milberg, PhDProfessor of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

“
This contribution to the neurobiology of creativity presents several fascinating multidisciplinary approaches to music and medicine. The various modes of inquiry include sophisticated neuroscience, personal anecdotes, historical perspectives, and everything you would expect from creative scientists who dare to study the ins and outs of creativity.
Suzanne B. Hanser, EdD, MT-BCFounding Chair Emerita, Music Therapy Department, Berklee College of Music

“
Dr. Phillip Pearl and Dr. Saman Arfaie, together with colleagues in clinical and basic neuroscience, provide us with an eclectic collection of extraordinary essays regarding the neurobiology of creativity. This impressive book will most certainly attract a diverse readership.
Sidney M. Gospe, Jr., MD, PhDHerman and Faye Sarkowsky Endowed Chair of Child Neurology, University of Washington School of Medicine

“
This boldly creative and visionary book ignites, inspires, and challenges our intellectual curiosity, compelling us to understand more deeply the intricate neurobiology of creativity within the rich earth of our inner essential responses and how it shapes our humanity. It is truly a rare treasure.
Ingrid Tein, MDProfessor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children

“
In this book, Dr. Phillip Pearl and Dr. Saman Arfaie reveal that neural networks and even genetic factors combine with environmental and cultural influences to support creativity. Anyone with an interest in neuroscience or creativity will enjoy this excellent work.
E. Steve Roach, MDProfessor, Department of Neurology, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin

“
Research on the processes behind the creation and practice of music is reaching maturity, and so, finally, is the study of the medical applications of music. Dr. Phillip Pearl and Dr. Saman Arfaie bring you up to date in their new volume.
Antonio Damasio, MD, PhDUniversity Professor, David Dornsife Chair in Neuroscience, and Director of the Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California

“
In this wide-ranging book, Dr. Phillip Pearl and Dr. Saman Arfaie have brought together experts in many domains, ranging from neurology and neuroscience to music therapy and education, to examine creativity, with a special focus on music, its functions, and dysfunctions. The result is sure to prove of interest to anyone curious about how this fundamental human capacity for artistic expression emerges from our brain's functional features.
Robert J. Zatorre, PhDProfessor and Canada Research Chair, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University

“
This book takes us on a tour of musical creativity and the brain, lending insight into one of the most interesting aspects of the human experience. From the evolutionary origins of music to modern brain imaging, and from the study of creativity to therapeutic applications for patients with brain disorders, it provides an illuminating overview of the relationship between music and the human brain.
Michael D. Fox, MD, PhDProfessor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School; Director, Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics, Brigham and Women's Hospital

“
Dr. Phillip Pearl and Dr. Saman Arfaie have brought together what may be the definitive volume, representing the state of the art in science, situating music and musical creativity in its biological and neurobiological context. Drawing on their dual identities as accomplished clinician-musicians, they have curated a wide-ranging collection that bridges empirical research with humanistic insight. Both academic and lay audiences will be captivated by this fascinating sampling of what has become a rigorous and mature branch of neuroscience, a text that should not be missed.
William Milberg, PhDProfessor of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

“
This contribution to the neurobiology of creativity presents several fascinating multidisciplinary approaches to music and medicine. The various modes of inquiry include sophisticated neuroscience, personal anecdotes, historical perspectives, and everything you would expect from creative scientists who dare to study the ins and outs of creativity.
Suzanne B. Hanser, EdD, MT-BCFounding Chair Emerita, Music Therapy Department, Berklee College of Music

“
Dr. Phillip Pearl and Dr. Saman Arfaie, together with colleagues in clinical and basic neuroscience, provide us with an eclectic collection of extraordinary essays regarding the neurobiology of creativity. This impressive book will most certainly attract a diverse readership.
Sidney M. Gospe, Jr., MD, PhDHerman and Faye Sarkowsky Endowed Chair of Child Neurology, University of Washington School of Medicine

“
This boldly creative and visionary book ignites, inspires, and challenges our intellectual curiosity, compelling us to understand more deeply the intricate neurobiology of creativity within the rich earth of our inner essential responses and how it shapes our humanity. It is truly a rare treasure.
Ingrid Tein, MDProfessor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children

Under review · University of Calgary Press

COVID-19 Contextualized

A Mosaic of Interdisciplinary Works Through a Canadian Lens

Edited bySaman Arfaie, MD, CM
Peter J. Glinos, PhD
Faraz Honarvar, MD, MSc

A 300+ page book spanning 20+ chapters, bringing molecular biology, epidemiology, clinical medicine, public health, psychology, education, ethics, policy, history, and leadership into a Canadian account of the pandemic. It moves from viral biology and mathematical modelling to hospital systems, the social consequences of crisis, national research and policy responses, and the lessons Canada must carry forward. Contributors include Trevor Young, Abraham Fuks, Catherine Hankins, Kevin Smith, Timothy Grant Evans, and Dawn Bowdish, alongside scholars and leaders from across Canadian medicine, science, education, and public life.

Current seventh-edition cover of Swaiman's Pediatric Neurology: Principles and Practice

Current seventh-edition cover · Eighth edition forthcoming

Elsevier · Eighth edition · Forthcoming

Section Editor

Swaiman's Pediatric Neurology: Principles and Practice

Developing new material on Pediatric Neurology Essentials for the Adult Neurologist and Artificial Intelligence in Neurology, in collaboration with international leaders in the field.

Selected book chapters

Scholarship in
long form.

Cover of Clara and Robert Schumann in Context

Cambridge University Press · Chapter 31

Robert's Health Issues

Clara and Robert Schumann in Context

View the chapter

Cambridge University Press

Cover of Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity

View the Cambridge volume

Cerebral Processing of Music and Its Possible Biological Role

Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity

The Onset of Silence: Beethoven's Battle with Deafness

Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity

Harmony and Discord: The Medical History of Robert and Clara Schumann

Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity