Bambino 24,139 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Scientists find how to get that tune out of your head! Solving tricky anagrams can help you get rid of earworms - a piece of music that keeps repeating in your mind so that you hear it, even when it is not being played - scientists claim. Solving some anagrams can force the intrusive music out of your working memory, allowing it to be replaced with other more amenable thoughts, scientists said. However, trying anything too difficult seemed to have little effect, The Telegraph reported. "The key is to find something that will give the right level of challenge. If you are cognitively engaged, it limits the ability of intrusive songs to enter your head," said Dr Ira Hyman, a music psychologist at Western Washington University who conducted the research. "Something we can do automatically like driving or walking means you are not using all of your cognitive resource, so there is plenty of space left for that internal jukebox to start playing," Hyman said. "Likewise, if you are trying something too hard, then your brain will not be engaged successfully, so that music can come back. You need to find that bit in the middle where there is not much space left in the brain. That will be different for each individual," Hyman said. Hyman and his team conducted a series of tests on volunteers by playing them popular songs in an attempt to find out how tunes can become stuck in long term memory. By playing songs by the Beatles, Lady Gaga and Beyonce while the volunteers completed mazes drawn out on pieces of paper, they found they could get songs to play mentally in the participants heads and that they were then likely to recur intrusively through the next day. They tested whether performing puzzles such as Sudoku or anagrams would help to reduce the recurrence of the earworms. They found that while Sudoku puzzles could help prevent the songs from replaying their heads, if they were too difficult it had little effect. Anagrams were more successful and they found that solving those with five letters gave the best results. "Verbal tasks like solving anagrams or reading a good novel seem to be very good at keeping earworms out," said Hyman. The team found that Lady Gaga was the most common artist to get stuck in people's heads, with four of her catchy pop songs being the most likely to become earworms - Alejandro, Bad Romance, Just Dance and Paparazzi. Source Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doogi 1,506 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Rah rah rah ah ah :hor: I'm Chloe. Except the C and the L are silent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray of Light 8,134 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Who researches these things? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emvee 8,130 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Where's your fave Poker Face now? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eros92 2,496 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 The funny thing is people that I know who don't like Gaga at all always sing lines from Alejandro, Bad Romance and Poker Face. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WheresTheDoggo 11 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 i have this song stuck in my head at the moment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcMAcyWYlpM hey I'm Doggo :derpga: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadHeavyMetalQueen 142 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 P-P-P-Poker Face Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOTRODSGAGA 81 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 I thought Born this way was her catchiest song... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabel 205 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Papa-Paparazzi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaga is Life 101 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 The power of Gaga I wonder by how much she's the most. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deacon 5 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Ale-ale-jandrooooo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURA 2,890 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Ale-alejandro Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iAstroLeo 14,388 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Muh muh muh marry muh muh muh marry muh muh muh marry the night oh muh muh muh marry muh muh muh marry muh muh muh marry the night Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yourfaves 317 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Not Poker Face? Bogus research tbh! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC96 29 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Can hardly say i'm surprised Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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