Listening to AC/DC can definitely get your motor running, but who knew that it can also be beneficial when performing medical procedures? A new study has found that listening to the hard rock legends at high volume makes surgeons faster and more precise.
Germany’s Heidelberg University conducted the study on the effects of music genre and volume on laparoscopic surgery. Surgeons were played “soft rock by The Beatles and hard rock by AC/DC” while the speed and accuracy of their surgical cuts was analyzed against each musical style at different amplitudes.
The surgeons who operated with AC/DC playing in the background were faster and more precise. Specifically, the time needed to make a precision cut dropped from 236 seconds to 139 seconds with a five percent increase in precision.
Meanwhile, The Beatles “Let It Be” and “Hey Jude” also resulted in faster cuts, but only when played at lower volumes. When played at higher volumes (65–70 decibels), the beneficial effect diminished. However, the surgeons thrived when AC/DC was cranked.
“Our results show that both soft rock and hard rock can enhance surgical performance,” said lead researcher Cui Yang [via The Sun]. “For hard rock music, the positive effect was especially noticeable when the music was played in high volume. 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.”
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Next time you go under the knife, maybe request some “Back in Black.” It might sound crazy, but according to science, it could make your surgery that much faster and safer.
