title: The Mozart effect on task performance in a laparoscopic surgical simulator.
abstract: The Mozart Effect is a phenomenon whereby certain pieces of music induce temporary enhancement in "spatial temporal reasoning." To determine whether the Mozart Effect can improve surgical performance, 55 male volunteers (mean age = 20.6 years, range = 16-27), novice to surgery, were timed as they completed an activity course on a laparoscopic simulator. Subjects were then randomized for exposure to 1 of 2 musical pieces by Mozart (n = 21) and Dream Theater (n = 19), after which they repeated the course. Following a 15-minute exposure to a nonmusical piece, subjects were exposed to one of the pieces and performed the activity course a third time. An additional group (n = 15) that was not corandomized performed the tasks without any exposure to music. The percent improvements in completion time between 3 successive trials were calculated for each subject and group means compared. In 2 of the tasks, subjects exposed to the Dream Theater piece achieved approximately 30% more improvement (26.7 ± 8.3%) than those exposed to the Mozart piece (20.2 ± 7.8%, P = .021) or to no music (20.4 ± 9.1%, P = .049). Distinct patterns of covariance between baseline performance and subsequent improvement were observed for the different musical conditions and tasks. The data confirm the existence of a Mozart Effect and demonstrate for the first time its practical applicability. Prior exposure to certain pieces may enhance performance in practical skills requiring spatial temporal reasoning.
authors.affiliation: 1Lander College for Men, Touro College, Queens, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Wiseman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000193:education* / Q000295:instrumentation; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012371:Robotics / Q000193:education* / Q000295:instrumentation; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult