DocEvi1
08-13-2003, 08:29 AM
There's nothing nicer than a tune playing in your head -- until you can't turn it off.
The phenomenon has spanned the ages. In 1882, Mark Twain wrote in a short story of an annoying "jingling rhyme" that became indelibly lodged in the author's mind until he passed the curse along to another hapless victim. This summer, a community board in Brooklyn, N.Y., has called for a limit on the playing of the "Mr. Softee" jingle by ice-cream trucks -- a jingle that can be unbearably memorable for those subjected to it for extended periods.
Research has helped define, but not explain, the experience. A recent study by the University of Cincinnati looked at the affliction, which the author, James Kellaris, calls "earworms" from the German word ohrwurm. The ear part is obvious, but the worm part isn't incidental. Kellaris, a consumer psychologist,
says it conveys the parasitic nature of the travel of songs into their listeners' ears, only to then get lodged and played on mental continuum.
He found that some 98 percent of listeners were at one time or another bothered by a tune that wouldn't leave their heads. The study also found some common offenders, including the Kit-Kat jingle ("Gimme a break"), "Who Let the Dogs Out," Queen's "We Will Rock You," the theme to "Mission: Impossible," "YMCA," "Whoomp, There It Is," "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and "It's a Small World After All."
The study also showed that musicians and those with compulsive tendencies are the most afflicted. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, though the act of repetition -- in popular songs on the radio and on the rehearsal floor for musicians -- plays a role.
The 559 students used in the study had lots of trouble with the Chili's jingle for its baby-back ribs and with the Baha Men song "Who Let the Dogs Out. " But Kellaris found that most often, each person tends to be haunted by their demon notes.
There can be a positive side for some. Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond says those repetitive notes that won't go away have spawned some of the greatest hits of his career.
"If I wasn't in the business of songwriting, I'd probably be seeing a doctor," Diamond said. "I've tried everything from cold showers to listening to other people's music, but nothing helps."
Musicians may be more affected than others because of the areas of the brain involved in listening to and creating music. The brain is composed of circuits, many of which connect to the rostromedial prefrontal cortex, an area behind the forehead.
Stefan
The phenomenon has spanned the ages. In 1882, Mark Twain wrote in a short story of an annoying "jingling rhyme" that became indelibly lodged in the author's mind until he passed the curse along to another hapless victim. This summer, a community board in Brooklyn, N.Y., has called for a limit on the playing of the "Mr. Softee" jingle by ice-cream trucks -- a jingle that can be unbearably memorable for those subjected to it for extended periods.
Research has helped define, but not explain, the experience. A recent study by the University of Cincinnati looked at the affliction, which the author, James Kellaris, calls "earworms" from the German word ohrwurm. The ear part is obvious, but the worm part isn't incidental. Kellaris, a consumer psychologist,
says it conveys the parasitic nature of the travel of songs into their listeners' ears, only to then get lodged and played on mental continuum.
He found that some 98 percent of listeners were at one time or another bothered by a tune that wouldn't leave their heads. The study also found some common offenders, including the Kit-Kat jingle ("Gimme a break"), "Who Let the Dogs Out," Queen's "We Will Rock You," the theme to "Mission: Impossible," "YMCA," "Whoomp, There It Is," "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and "It's a Small World After All."
The study also showed that musicians and those with compulsive tendencies are the most afflicted. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, though the act of repetition -- in popular songs on the radio and on the rehearsal floor for musicians -- plays a role.
The 559 students used in the study had lots of trouble with the Chili's jingle for its baby-back ribs and with the Baha Men song "Who Let the Dogs Out. " But Kellaris found that most often, each person tends to be haunted by their demon notes.
There can be a positive side for some. Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond says those repetitive notes that won't go away have spawned some of the greatest hits of his career.
"If I wasn't in the business of songwriting, I'd probably be seeing a doctor," Diamond said. "I've tried everything from cold showers to listening to other people's music, but nothing helps."
Musicians may be more affected than others because of the areas of the brain involved in listening to and creating music. The brain is composed of circuits, many of which connect to the rostromedial prefrontal cortex, an area behind the forehead.
Stefan