We all went through there. We find ourselves humming a song without even knowing why. Some music runs in our heads. We then try to get rid of it by listening to other songs, in vain.
Why do some songs stay in mind more than others?
According to experts, not all songs are in the lead. On the one hand, the rhythm of the music must be higher than the average. It must have at least 124 beats per minute while the normal rhythm is 115 beats per minute on average.
On the other hand, the melody also plays an important role. Songs that are easy to sing with melodies that are repeated are more likely to get stuck in the lead. The last point to take into account is the interval between the notes. The faster it is, the more involuntarily we remember music.
The Zeigarnik effect also influences our musical memory
Besides, do you know why we generally remember a piece of song rather than all the song? It is because of the Zeigarnik effect discovered a Russian psychologist of the same name in the 1920s.
The Zeigarnik effect designates the tendency to remember unfinished tasks more easily than finished tasks. We therefore retain more easily for a few seconds of melodies rather than the whole song.
Chewing gum, an effective weapon against songs that remain in the lead
Now that you know where the earworms come from, how to get rid of them effectively? A study was published on this subject a few years ago by the University of Reading, England.
The best way to eliminate earworms would be to chew a chewing gum. The researchers actually discovered that the jaw movements disrupt the nervous signals which are responsible for making the songs in our head.
The study revealed that people who chewed chewing gum after listening to catchy songs thought about it less often than people in a control group. In addition, chewing a chewing gum also reduced by a third the frequency of listening to a song.
How chestnation influences “ear worms” and short -term memory
Previous studies had already looked into the movements of the jaw and their impact on short -term memory. They had proven that it is enough to articulate something in a low voice or simply to move the jaw to interfere with the memory in the short term.
Nevertheless, the study of the University of Reading is the first to have focused on the relationship between chewing gum and earworms. So, the next time you have an annoying song that remains stuck in mind, try to chew a chewing gum or something else.
With an unwavering passion for local news, Christopher leads our editorial team with integrity and dedication. With over 20 years’ experience, he is the backbone of Wouldsayso, ensuring that we stay true to our mission to inform.
