STUDY: Surgeons Actually Perform Better When Listening To AC/DC

What is the song that works best for you on the job?

Apparently surgeons do much better on the job, when they have AC/DC blasting in the room. Lead researcher Cui Yang from Heidelberg University in Germany wrote in the journal "Langenbeck’s Archives of Surgery", that a recent study he did showed that blasting AC/DC music in the OR almost doubled surgeons’ speed and made them more exact in the procedure. The two songs they loved were "Highway to Hell" and "T.N.T". Surgeons made precise cuts in 139 seconds instead of the usual 236 seconds.

Yang said, “The positive effect was especially noticeable when the music was played at high volume.” He did find that both hard and soft rock improved surgeons’ performance, but for hard rock the effect was much more apparent.

Yang concluded that the rhythm of the music may help surgeons better focus. He said, “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.” Also, listening at high volume was the most helpful.

It is fairly common for surgeons to have a playlist for surgery. Yang found that music is played in around two-thirds of operations.

What's the song you crank at work to be most effective?