Scoping Out Sticky Songs

Source: Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Pop quiz time! What do the following phrases have in common?

I’ve got my baby back, baby back, baby back, I’ve got my baby back, baby back ,baby back…

Who let the dog’s out! Woof, woof, woof, woof….

Give me a break! Give me a break. Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar.

It’s a small world after all. It’s a small world after all. It’s a small world after all. It’s a small, small world.

Think you know? Did you get it?

That’s right. These are all classic musical earworms.

You know, earworms, right? Those musical snippets that get stuck in your head that you have trouble shaking? Those things that were rather hilariously incorporated in this summer’s Pixar movie Inside Out? I call them earworms, but there are other names for this phenomenon as well. Sticky music…cognitive itch…stuck song syndrome…

There’s also a scientific term for this phenomenon: Involuntary Musical Imagery, or INMI. And people actually study this—not just the occurrence itself, but also its neural correlates.

Researchers don’t really know why INMIs happen, but research has provided us with some common characteristics of earworms:

• Almost any thought or sensory perception can active earworms. Additionally, earworms can be induced by a memory, work stress, or boredom.
• Much like musical preference, earworms are highly personal. Everyone has their own tune.
• Earworms share certain music characteristics. They have a simple, upbeat melody and catchy, repetitive lyrics. There’s also generally some sort of unexpected musical “surprise,” like an extra beat or an unusual rhythm.
• Earworm music itself is generally considered to be neutral or pleasant.

In addition, researchers are beginning to explore how the brain processes INMIs. Just this month, researchers in the UK published results from an MRI study investigating the neural correlates of ear worms. They report that INMIs recruited neural networks implicated in perceptions, emotions, memories, and spontaneous thoughts, which seems to make sense, no? INMIs are themselves spontaneous (spontaneous thought), they can be induced by a memory (memories), are generally considered to be pleasant (emotions), and even though they are internal events, they are still cognitively perceived and processed (perception).

We may not yet know why INMIs happen, but there are some general guidelines for getting rid of the suckers. Should you have an earworm, you can:

• try doing a puzzle like Sudoku (just make sure it’s not too difficult!);
• sing a slow song;
• share your ear worm song with a friend (just make sure your friendship is strong enough to weather what happens should the ear worm get stuck in your friend’s head!); or
• turn on some music.

Follow me on Twitter @KimberlySMoore for daily updates on the latest research and articles related to music, music therapy, and music and the brain. I invite you also to check out my website, www.MusicTherapyMaven.com, for additional information, resources, and strategies.

References and Additional Information

Farrugia, N., Jakubowski, K., Cusack, R., & Stewart L. (2015). Tunes stuck in your brain: The frequency and affective evaluation of involuntary musical imagery correlate with cortical structures. Consciousness and Cognitive, 35, 66-77.

Williamson, V. J., Liikkanen, L. A., Jakubowski, K. & Stewart, L. (2014). Sticky tunes: How do people react to Involuntary Musical Imagery? PLoSONE, 9(1): e86170. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086170

The Definitive Guide to Earwurms: http://earwurm.com/song-in-my-head/