Language of flowers. They like it because no-one can hear. Or a poison bouquet to strike him down.
An earworm is a song going around in your head that you can’t get rid of. Some claim that earworms are like a cognitive itch, we scratch them by repeating the tune over and over in our heads.
In new research, Beaman & Williams (2010) asked 103 participants aged 15-57 all about their earworm experiences. Here’s what they found:
• Many earworms were pop songs, although adverts and TV/film themes and video game tunes were also mentioned.
• One-third generally experienced the chorus or refrain over and over again, but almost half said that it varied.
• 10% of participants reported that earworms stopped them doing other things.
• Contrary to popular belief those with musical training were no more likely to experience earworms. (…)
For most of us earworms are relatively untroubling. And if you are tempted to moan then just be thankful you’re not the 21-year-old described in a case report by Praharaj et al. (2009). This man had had music from Hindi films going around in his head against his will for between 2 and 45 minutes at a time, up to 35 times a day, for five years. Unfortunately even powerful drugs couldn’t stop the music.
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It sometimes feel like our minds are not on the same team as us. I want to go to sleep, but it wants to keep me awake rerunning events from my childhood. I want to forget the lyrics from that stupid 80s pop song but it wants to repeat them over and over again ad nauseam. (…)
Perpetual thoughts of food drive people to obesity, persistent negative thoughts cue depression and traumatic events push back into consciousness to be relived over and over again. (…)
Although it makes perfect intuitive sense to try and suppress unwanted thoughts, unfortunately the very process we use to do this contains the seeds of its own destruction. The more we try and push intrusive thoughts down, the more they pop back up, stronger than ever.
photos { Kate Moss photographed by Michael Thompson, 1993 }
related { Kate Moss shows off six piercings after visit to tattoo parlour, 2009 }
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