Earworm :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Earworm The Song That Wont Leave Your HeadI 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 professors voice, I up to now took a nap and it kept me awake. I had a stupid song stuck in my head and it wouldnt 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 its driving us so crazy that we want to scream in pain? tally 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 do may start involuntarily, as the brain detects an incongruity or something exceptional in the musical stimulus. The ensuing mental repeat may exacerbate the itch, such(prenominal) 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 Barnnys I chicane 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 whatsoever unconscious cognitive incident occurred at that very moment. These traits of simpl icity, repetition and circular composition1 are potent because we dont remember songs as one complete image, like a picture, but as temporal sequences that unfold in our brains. (3) In other words, we dont see an entire song in our head instead, one image (or course in a song) triggers the subsequent one.