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.