WEBVTT - Why Do Songs Get Stuck in Your Head?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Volga bomb here. Why do songs

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<v Speaker 1>and jingles get seemingly inextricably stuck in our heads? I

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<v Speaker 1>mean I forget my phone number sometimes? So why does

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<v Speaker 1>my brain occasionally dredge up a song from a ninety

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<v Speaker 1>nineties Bagel Bites commercial and play it on repeat for hours?

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<v Speaker 1>Earworms aren't literal parasites, thank heck. But they are parasitic

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<v Speaker 1>in the sense that they get lodged in your head

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<v Speaker 1>and cause a sort of cognitive itch, a need for

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<v Speaker 1>the brain to fill in the gaps in a song's rhythm.

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<v Speaker 1>When we listen to a song, it triggers a part

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<v Speaker 1>of the brain called the auditory cortex. A Researchers at

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<v Speaker 1>Dartmouth University found that when they played part of a

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<v Speaker 1>familiar song to research subjects, the participants auditory cortex automatically

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<v Speaker 1>filled in the rest. In other words, their brains kept

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<v Speaker 1>singing long after the song had ended. The only way

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<v Speaker 1>to scratch brain it is to repeat the song over

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<v Speaker 1>and over in your mind. Unfortunately, like with mosquito bites,

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<v Speaker 1>the more you scratch, the more you itch, and so on,

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<v Speaker 1>until you're stuck in an unending song cycle. But that's

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<v Speaker 1>just one theory. There are many others about why songs

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<v Speaker 1>get stuck in our heads. Some researchers say stuck songs

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<v Speaker 1>are like thoughts that we're trying to suppress. The harder

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<v Speaker 1>we try not to think about them, the more we

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<v Speaker 1>can't help it. Other experts claim that earworms are simply

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<v Speaker 1>a way to keep the brain busy when it's idling.

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<v Speaker 1>James Colores, a marketing professor at the University of Cincinnati

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<v Speaker 1>College of Business Administration, has done research on earworms and

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<v Speaker 1>brain itch, and he's found that as many as of

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<v Speaker 1>us have fallen prey to them at one time or another.

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<v Speaker 1>Colaris says that women, musicians, and people who are tired

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<v Speaker 1>or stressed are more prone to earworm attacks. With musicians,

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<v Speaker 1>it makes sense because they're listening to music continuously, but

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<v Speaker 1>Colors isn't sure why women have been found to be

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<v Speaker 1>more susceptible. Researchers also aren't sure why some songs are

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<v Speaker 1>more likely to get stuck in our heads than others.

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<v Speaker 1>But everyone has their own tunes that drive them up

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<v Speaker 1>the wall. Often the songs have a simple upbeat melody, catchy,

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<v Speaker 1>repetitive lyrics, and a surprise like an extra beat or

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<v Speaker 1>unusual rhythm, the same factors that made the songs or

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<v Speaker 1>jingles popular in the first place. Songs with lyrics account

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<v Speaker 1>for some seventy four percent of what we get stuck

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<v Speaker 1>in our heads, followed by commercial jingles, fiercent and instrumental songs.

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<v Speaker 1>And even though it can be annoying, we don't just

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<v Speaker 1>repeat the songs that we hate. In one study done

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<v Speaker 1>by researchers at Bucknell University, more than half of students

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<v Speaker 1>who had songs stuck in their heads rated them as

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<v Speaker 1>pleasant and were neutral. Only fifteen percent of the songs

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<v Speaker 1>were considered unpleasant. Unfortunately, there is no tried, in true

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<v Speaker 1>way to get songs out of your head. Once they're

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<v Speaker 1>stuck in there, they can stick in your brain for

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<v Speaker 1>anywhere from a few minutes to several days. Most earworms

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<v Speaker 1>will eventually crawl out on their own, But if a

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<v Speaker 1>song is nagging you to the brink, here are a

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<v Speaker 1>few tips. Try singing a different song, playing another melody

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<v Speaker 1>on an instrument, or listening to other music, or switch

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<v Speaker 1>to an activity that keeps you busy, like working out,

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<v Speaker 1>or try listening to the song all the way through.

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<v Speaker 1>Our researchers even recommend picturing the earworm is a real

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<v Speaker 1>creature crawling out of your head, and then imagining stomping

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<v Speaker 1>on it. They also say that talking about your earworm

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<v Speaker 1>can help, but you might want to be careful. Your

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<v Speaker 1>friends and family might not appreciate it. Though. If you

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<v Speaker 1>do prank someone with an earworm, you'll be in historic company.

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<v Speaker 1>Back in the seventeen hundreds, Mozart's children would supposedly annoy

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<v Speaker 1>him by starting a melody on the piano and leaving

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<v Speaker 1>it hanging. He would rush downstairs to finish the tune.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Stephanie Watson and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clain. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio, visit thy heart Radio, app, Apple Podcasts, or

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