Earworm

Earworm: The Song That Won't Leave Your Head

I woke up and I was mortified. It was the first thing in my mind when I opened my eyes and I just could not believe this silly little thing had become as involuntary as breathing. I tried another song, but it would come back without me realizing it. I walked to work and it came with me, I sat in class and it spoke louder that my professor's voice, I even took a nap and it kept me awake. I had a stupid song stuck in my head and it wouldn't go away.

What is it that happens in the brain that causes this annoyance to go on for days? And why does it remain in the head even when it's driving us so crazy that we want to scream in pain? According to research done by Professor James Kellaris at the University of Cincinnati, (1) getting songs stuck in our heads happens to most if not all of us. His theory shows that certain songs create a sort of "cognitive itch" - the mental equivalent of an itchy back. So, the only way to 'scratch' a cognitive itch is to rehearse the responsible tune mentally. The process may start involuntarily, as the brain detects an incongruity or something "exceptional" in the musical stimulus. The ensuing mental repetition may exacerbate the "itch," such that the mental rehearsal becomes largely involuntary, and the individual feels trapped in a cycle from which they seem unable to escape.

But why does this happen? Apparently, repetition, musical simplicity and incongruity are partly responsible for the annoyance. (2) A repeated phrase, motif or sequence might be suggestive of the very act of repetition itself, such that the brain echoes the pattern automatically as the musical information is processed. Still, simpler songs appear more likely to make your brain itch, - like Barnny's "I love you, you love me" tune - but at the same time a song that does something unexpected can cause the brain to latch on because of whatever unconscious cognitive incident occurred at that very moment. These traits of simplicity, repetition and circular composition1 are potent because we don't remember songs as one complete image, like a picture, but as temporal sequences that unfold in our brains. (3) In other words, we don't "see" an entire song in our head; instead, one image (or line in a song) triggers the subsequent one.