Related Posts
Best places for Sunday brunch in Atlanta?
Best place for some authentic Indian food?
Conversation Starter
Wordle 538 4/6
🟨⬛🟩⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Chief
The cheeseballs are growing so fast :(
What do you think of Just Egg?
More Posts
Additional Posts in Science & Research
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
The process by which earworms form and take hold is complex, but essentially it boils down to the fact that music is a type of auditory stimulus that is particularly effective at sticking in mind. It does so because music has both a melodic component, meaning that the same rhythmic sequence of notes can be repeated without causing boredom, combined with emotionally engaging lyrics which helps to create an overall 'catchy' effect. This makes songs far more likely than other types of stimuli to become associated with memories and thus remain lodged in our minds.
Music has been shown to activate areas of the brain involved in emotion, meaning that certain tunes can trigger powerful feelings such as joy, nostalgia or sadness. This emotional connection might explain why some songs are more likely to become earworms than others
That is known as Involuntary Musical Imagery (INMI), and it is related to several cognitive processes. The reason why it occurs more frequently with music than other sensory experiences such as smells or tastes is because of the complexity of musical composition and its association with memory.
Research has shown that when we hear a catchy song, it can increase the activity in certain areas of the brain responsible for emotion, memory, visual representation, motor action and auditory processing. As we listen to an earworm, parts of our brain become active, even without us realizing it, which increases its chances of becoming lodged in our minds.