• Alejandro M Spiotta, Avery L Buchholz, Alyssa K Pierce, JoAnn Dahlkoetter, and Rocco Armonda.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Electronic address: spiotta@musc.edu.
• World Neurosurg. 2018 Dec 1; 120: e188-e193.

BackgroundTop performing neurosurgeons and elite athletes require years of sacrifice, discipline, and dedication to their art to be finely attuned to their physical abilities and limitations, and a singular mental focus to reach their full potential under moments of pressure.MethodsWe outline strategies and techniques commonly used by high-performance athletes and how they may be applied to neurosurgery to achieve the highest possible surgeon preparation, patient outcomes, and career longevity.ResultsFurther investigation and integration of well-established cognitive psychology applications to surgical performance is needed. These principles are broad-reaching and may be applied to the training of our residents, our own daily routine, and as a life philosophy to enhance the longevity of our careers.ConclusionsMaintaining peak performance for a neurosurgeon may prove to be more challenging than that of the elite athlete.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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