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ABSTRACT Background: It is unclear if there is a natural transition from laparoscopic to robotic surgery with transfer of abilities. Aim: To measure the performance and learning of basic robotic tasks in a simulator of individuals with different surgical background. Methods: Three groups were tested for robotic dexterity: a) experts in laparoscopic surgery (n=6); b) experts in open surgery (n=6); and c) non-medical subjects (n=4). All individuals were aged between 40-50 years. Five repetitions of four different simulated tasks were performed: spatial vision, bimanual coordination, hand-foot-eye coordination and motor skill. Results: Experts in laparoscopic surgery performed similar to non-medical individuals and better than experts in open surgery in three out of four tasks. All groups improved performance with repetition. Conclusion: Experts in laparoscopic surgery performed better than other groups but almost equally to non-medical individuals. Experts in open surgery had worst results. All groups improved performance with repetition.