Can an athlete’s focus on the field translate to everyday life? Pro soccer star turned coach Patrick Vieira sits down with neuroscientist John Krakauer to discuss how we can apply the determination, precision, and strategy of competitive sports to our daily challenges.

Brainwave is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.





About the Speakers

As a professional soccer player Patrick Vieira’s achievements include winning performances in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2000 UEFA European Championships. He has represented Cannes, Milan, Arsenal, Juventus, Internazionale, and Manchester City over the course of his 17-year playing career. Vieira’s time on the pitch saw him lift five FA Cups and nine league titles.

His time as a Manchester City player, which began in January 2010, concluded with the winning of the FA Cup final in May 2011, the club’s first silverware in 35 years.

Following retirement in 2011, Vieira took on the Football Development Executive role with Manchester City, and two years later he was named the manager of Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad.

Vieira made his MLS coaching debut on March 6, 2016 when he led the club to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Fire. New York City FC also made their first MLS Cup playoff appearance under Vieira, but were eliminated in the second round by Toronto FC.

John Krakauer is Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and Director of the Brain, Learning, Animation, and Movement Lab, at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Among his areas of research interest are experimental and computational studies of motor control and motor learning in humans and tracking long-term motor skill learning and its relation to higher cognitive processes such as decision making. He also co-founded two video gaming groups called Max and Haley and KATA, which are based on the idea that animal movement is pleasurable for humans to watch and heightened when that movement is under our control.A simulated dolphin and other cetaceans have now been made available by Max and Haley in a game called I am Dolphin available in the App Store. The technology is also being developed by KATA to prepare therapeutic games controlled by a 3D exoskeletal robot.