Earworms

In case you didn’t know, earworms are fragments of songs that stick in your head. I have earworms most of the time and have no idea how my mind chooses certain tunes. Once it was a fragment of a hymn! “Killing Me Softly” is a recent earworm of mine. Why that? It turns out that scientists have actually studied earworms! Psychologists call them “involuntary musical imagery” that can produce some insights into how memory works—how associations with music trigger memories or how mood is associated with memory.

One group of scientists conducted a huge survey by asking radio listeners to call the station and report on their current earworm and why they had it. From this data, the scientists determined the most common triggers for earworms. Unsurprisingly, the most common trigger is having heard the song recently, but other experiences can trigger an earworm, such as seeing a license plate with letters that bring a song to mind. Mood is also a trigger. Sadness, for example, might be associated with a certain song. Earworms are more likely to occur when your mind is wandering—when you’re not focusing on something.

Scientists also discovered that earworm songs tend to be in a certain tempo range—around 124 beats per minute (two beats per second), which is generally faster than non-earworm songs. That tempo, they say, aligns with our body rhythms—the speed at which we like to move or dance. Also, earworm melodies tend to go up and down in a regular pattern, which may help us recall the song more easily.

What if you’re tired of your earworm and want it gone? You can switch to a different song, or you can chew gum vigorously. Because chewing involves the same nerve signals you use to mentally sing the song, gum chewing interferes with your mental singing—provided you’re not chewing to the beat of the music.

I don’t mind my earworms, but now I’m back to my Killing Me Softly earworm, which has become tiresome. Alas, there’s no gum in the house.  

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