Fighting Earworms Through Science

In my job, I hear a LOT of music.  So I probably get a song stuck in my head maybe once a day. Never for too long, maybe ten minutes. 

There's nothing worse than having an annoying SONG stuck in your head.  If it's a good song, that's not so bad.  But if you don't even like it that much, that suuuuucks.  But if it does happen to you Google has told me that scientists have finally figured out a way to get you some peace.

Dr. Ira Hyman is a music psychologist at Western Washington University.  He just finished a study that found the best way to get a song out of your head is . . . solving a puzzle that's 'sort of' hard.  When you have a song stuck in your head, it's actually because that song is dominating your working memory.

When you force your brain to concentrate on something else, like a Sudoku puzzle or a video game, you can push the song out.  But if you pick a puzzle or a game that's too easy or too hard, it won't engage your mind enough.  So as long as it's sort of hard, it should work.  So maybe keep an easy crossword puzzle book around the house? Or maybe a word search one? I bet you bought a couple to help with boredom when you were quarantining.

So, good luck on that.

Meanwhile I'll be over here with my YouTube playlist when I get home, rockin out to songs I have to have the subtitles on to understand.

What songs have gotten stuck in your head recently?

Musically yours,
Behka