David J. Linden (born November 3, 1961) is an American professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and the author of The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God. The book The Accidental Mind is an attempt to explain the human brain to intelligent lay readers, and recently received a silver medal in the category of Science from the Independent Publisher Association. As of July 1, 2008, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neurophysiology. Linden’s second book, The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good, was released on April 14, 2011 (

ISBN 978-0670022588).

In addition to Linden’s academic research, he is known as a popularizer of brain science, often making biochemistry understandable to non-science majors in his numerous appearances on the radio and on college campuses.