October 6, 1994: Vol26n5: FINDINGS: Research shows right music may improve surgeon's perform..

By LOIS BAKER
News Bureau Staff
Playing music during surgery may help some surgeons relieve stress and
improve their performance, a study conducted by researchers at UB
suggests.
	Only music selected by the surgeon had a strong positive
effect during a laboratory experiment designed to mimic the stress of
surgery, however. Results showed that music selected by the
researchers, and known specifically for its calming influence,
resulted in only slightly decreased cardiovascular activity and no
improvement in performance.
	The study, conducted by Karen Allen and Jim Blascovich of UBUs
Center for the Study of Biobehav-ioral and Social Aspects of Health,
appears in the Sept. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical
Association.
	Various studies have been done on the role of music in
relieving anxiety and pain in patients before, during and after
various medical procedures, including surgery. And while many surgeons
are known to listen to music in the operating room, Allen and
Blascovich said their investigation is the first to study musicUs
therapeutic effect on these physicians.
	To assess the influence of music on surgeonsU cardiovascular
reactivity - blood pressure, pulse rate and skin conductance - and
performance, the researchers enlisted 50 male volunteers, all music
enthusiasts who listen to music during surgery. In a laboratory
setting, the 50 surgeons were asked to perform mental arithmetic
tasks, a standard method for measuring psychophysiological stress, to
mimic the stress a surgeon might experience in the operating room.
	Each participant performed the tasks twice under three
conditions - music of choice, music selected by the researchers -
PachelbelUs Canon in D, a well-known classical orchestral piece often
included in commercially produced Rstress-reductionS tapes - and no
music. Baseline cardiovascular readings were taken before and after
each task, and readings were monitored during each task and music
condition. Performance was rated for speed and accuracy by a
researcher blind to the study conditions.
	Results showed that the surgeons performed substantially
better when listening to their own selection than when listening to
the control music or when no music was playing.
	RWith their own music, the surgeons were less influenced by
external things and were better able to concentrate on the task and
get it right,S Allen said.
	Cardiovascular response also was significantly lower during
the self-selected music segment than during the other two conditions.
Average pulse rate when performing the stressful tasks was 78 beats
per minute during the self-selected music, compared to 110 during both
the Pachelbel selection and when no music was playing, results showed.
Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure rose significantly in
response to stress during the no-music and Pachelbel segments, but
remained stable during the physiciansU choice of music.
	RUsing their own music, the surgeons showed only small changes
in blood pressure over their baseline, even when under stress,S Allen
said.
	No specific category of surgeon-selected music was associated
with favorable physiological responses and improved performance. The
selections, all instrumentals, included work by Count Basie, Aaron
Copeland, many classical composers and traditional Celtic harp music.
	RThis experiment lends credible support to the importance of
individual taste and selection of music,S the authors state. RJames
Galway and the Chieftans playing Irish music complete with drums and
tin whistles had a more positive influence on the surgeon than the
soothing Pachelbel used as the control.S
	RTo the extent that surgeonsU performance and cardiovascular
responses during a standard laboratory psychological stress
generalizes to the surgical suite, one would expect beneficial effects
of the same music on both cardiovascular reactivity and performance
during surgery,S Allen stated.
	The authors emphasized that all study participants were music
enthusiasts who believed they functioned better under its influence.
Results may be different for surgeons who do not listen to music
during surgery or who are not devoted to the genre, they noted.
	Allen is associate director and research associate with the UB
Center for the Study of Biobehav-ioral and Social Aspects of Health.
Blascovich is a UB associate professor of psychology.