Opinion

Stuck songs for all Have you got a photo you want to share with Wairarapa?

At present, Facebook is full of posts about Disney’s “Encanto”: specifically, its song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” and its propensity to get stuck in people’s heads.

The tune in question, by “Hamilton’s” Lin Manuel Miranda, is brilliant – and incredibly catchy. An “earworm”, in other words.

Parents must be tearing their hair out. While Disney is laughing all the way to the bank.

It’s estimated 98 percent of people in the Western world experience earworms – a memorable piece of music continuously occupying the mind after it is no longer played.

I myself am prone to earworms. I am currently tormented by a mash-up of “Runaround Sue” by Dion and “Mama, I’m A Big Girl Now” from the Hairspray musical.

Clearly, my brain is on a 60s kick.

Recently, scientists have done more research into earworms, also known as Involuntary Musical Imagery.

Studies have found earworms are lodged in the brain’s auditory cortex, which stores musical memories.

Researchers at Dartmouth College in the US conducted a study where they played parts of popular songs for test subjects, then interrupted the music.

Subjects then imagined the missing parts of the song – which, according to brain scans, reactivated the auditory cortex.

Other researchers site the Zeigarnik Effect, where the brain works to keep something unfinished in the working memory.

The American Psychological Association found earworms typically have “a fast tempo, a common melodic shape and unusual intervals or repetitions.”

The most common examples cited were “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga and the Maroon 5 chart-topper “Moves Like Jagger”.

Mick would have been stoked.

Scientists have several tips for eradicating pesky earworms – from “passively accepting” the song, to chewing gum (jaw movement can reduce musical cognition), to focusing on a different tune.

Apparently, two of the best “cure” tunes are “God Save The Queen” and “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club. (I’ll pass.)

Jokes aside, people’s memory for music is extremely powerful – and earworms could unlock the potential for more discoveries.

As researchers from Dartmouth noted, further research on what makes earworms so persistent could offer insights into how the mind holds on to other memories.

Despite its attachment to Gaga and Disney, the human brain is quite wondrous.

Happy listening, Wairarapa – watch out for those earworms!

Peace of Mind Erin Kavanagh-Hall

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