Abstract
Background: Reaction time (RT) is the time interval between the application of a stimulus and the appearance of appropriate voluntary response. It can be used to assess the efficacy to respond to any stimulus in daily life, for example, traffic signal.

Aims and Objectives: This study aims to determine the effect of soft and hard rock music; at low and high volumes on visual RT (VRT) in young adult males.

Materials and Methods: The study included 52 undergraduate medical students aged between 18 and 25 years; body mass index between 18.5 and 25 kg/m2. Instrumental soft and hard rock music was delivered through speakers at low volume (60 dB) and high volume (80 dB), gauged by sound level meter. VRT was recorded using digital RT apparatus. A baseline VRT for red, green, and yellow colors without any background music was recorded. The mean of three recordings for each color stimulus was considered. Soft music was played first at low volume followed by high volume for 2 min each. After a gap of 5 min, the procedure was repeated using hard rock. The stimuli were provided randomly. Post-exposure VRT was recorded after each session. Paired t-test was employed to compare the difference in mean of each session with mean baseline VRT.

Results: Statistically significant faster RT was observed for green color with soft music at high volume (P < 0.02) while it was slower for yellow color post-exposure to hard rock music (P < 0.0004).

Conclusion: The varied pattern of result may indicate differing choice of music which may have affected his alertness.

Key words: Reaction Time; Visual Reaction Time; Hard Rock Music; Soft Music; High Volume; Low Volume