Mindfulness is a third wave psychotherapy that has been shown to improve focus and decrease stress and burnout in healthcare professionals. Unfortunately, no study to date has assessed the efficacy of combatting burnout and stress while also improving intraoperative focus in one of the specialties with the highest rate of burnout, neurosurgery. The lengthy time requirements of previous mindfulness interventions are not amenable to the variable schedule of a neurosurgeon. Therefore, the construction of a mindfulness intervention that is short, yet effective is essential to the proper integration of mindfulness into the workflow of neurosurgeons. The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of a brief mindfulness intervention on decreasing burnout and stress while improving focus in the operating room.

In this research study, healthy participants will receive ear stimulation during brain imaging. Ear stimulation will involve the study team applying small electrodes to the outer part of your left ear and administering small amounts of electrical stimulation that may cause you to feel a "tickling" sensation on your ear. Participants will receive four, 8-min ear stimulation sessions in the scanner, and the order of the sessions is randomly assigned to you.

Knowledge gained from this study will help us better understand how stimulation of nerves in your ear turns on different parts of the brain.