What actually happens when you can’t get a song out of your head. Solutions to get rid of the “auditory worm”

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Most people go through the experience of having a song stuck in their head that just won’t go away. A neurologist explained the process by which the “auditory worm” infiltrates the human consciousness and what are the solutions to get rid of it.

A song can be captivating and repetitive internally, even if it’s not a favorite. When a song doesn’t want to leave the human consciousness, we’re dealing with an “earworm” that can be banished with little effort, explained Steven Gordon, MD, UC Health, and assistant professor. at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

The neurologist explained that, most of the time, it is a fragment of a song between 15 and 30 seconds, and the experience of the “auditory worm” is closely related to memory, being a kind of “itching” of the brain, which results in -a cognitive loop, he reports Digi24.ro.

Most healthy adults have a song stuck in their head about once a week. However, the problem can be much stronger for those who suffer from anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder, the specialist claims.

“Auditory worms” are most often linked to a memory triggered subconsciously by emotions, an association or hearing a song, Dr. Gordon explains. These “attention-seeking” songs, as the neurologist calls them, are usually fast-paced, with closely spaced intervals, long notes, and common melodic contours, which help them more easily pick up the brain’s phonological loop, a function of working memory that temporarily stores verbal and auditory information. He also points out that people who “dream with their eyes open” or who have a wandering mind would be more prone to “earworms”.

How to get rid of the song stuck in your head

The classic way to get a song out of your mind is to listen to it completely. But it only works for certain people, and for others it can strengthen the brain’s sound loop.

Another solution recommended by the neurologist is chewing gum. The rhythm of this activity can disrupt the mental process by which the melody fragment repeats itself.

Listening to human voices that only speak, not sing, is another option that works for many (radio show, podcast, etc.)

The basic idea is to distract the brain from the song stuck in the mind by focusing on another activity that does not involve music.