A study out of Germany’s Heidelberg University suggests cranking some ‘Thunderstruck’ could help surgeons be more efficient when performing medical procedures.
Novice surgeons who took part in the study had the speed and accuracy of their surgical cuts measured while listening to “soft rock by The Beatles and hard rock by AC/DC” as they performed laparoscopy (which requires small incisions in the abdomen or pelvis).
When the surgeons involved carried out their procedures with AC/DC’s ‘T.N.T.’ and ‘Highway to Hell’ playing in the background were, the time needed to make a precision cut fell from 236 seconds to 139 seconds. There was also a five percent improve on tests of accuracy. The effect “was especially noticeable when [hard rock] music was played in high volume,” according to lead researcher Cui Yang (via The Sun).
Surgeons also performed better when listening to The Beatles’ Let It Be’ and ‘Hey Jude’, but only when played at lower volumes – the effect was impaired when the Fab Four were cranked up. Thus, the researchers conclude, the effect of music on performance during the surgery may depend on the combination of both music genre and the amplitude it’s played.
“It is possible that music with high rhythmicity could provide a tempo to keep up the speed of the performance and thus enhance task performance,” Yang continued.
