Have you ever found yourself unable to shake off a melody, playing in your head over and over again? This phenomenon is known as an ‘earworm’. Almost everyone has experienced it at least once: just hearing a few bars of a popular song is enough for your internal jukebox to get stuck on the same fragment. Why does our brain work this way, and how can we get rid of persistent tunes? Let’s find out together.
Psychologists and neuroscientists have long taken an interest in this question. It turns out that getting stuck on musical fragments is related to how our memory stores information and the operation of certain neural networks. Some songs are practically designed to get ‘stuck’ in our heads—this isn’t by accident, but rather the result of their structure and repetition frequency.
How earworms work
Research shows that it’s usually the parts of songs built on repeating motifs that pop up most often in our memory. Choruses of popular hits, children’s tunes, and advertising jingles are ideal candidates for becoming earworms. If a song is played everywhere—on the radio, in stores, on the streets—the brain remembers it especially well.
Musical memory is different from a regular audio recording. In the brain, information about a song is stored as separate blocks linked together by certain rules. When a person hears a familiar melody, these blocks are activated, and the brain starts replaying them according to a set pattern. If a song has many repetitions, the instruction becomes simple: ‘when you reach the end, start again.’ This is how an endless internal loop occurs.
Triggers and habits
There are several reasons why a song can get stuck in your head. Sometimes it’s enough to hear a familiar phrase or tune for the brain to immediately pick it up and start looping it. In other cases, it’s enough to see something associated with the song, or even just think about it.
Habits also play a role. For example, if you often listen to music on your way to work, certain tracks may pop up in your memory even without any external triggers. This is connected to what’s called the brain’s default mode network—it becomes active when a person is daydreaming, distracted, or simply relaxed. At these times, intrusive thoughts find it easier to break into consciousness.
Why these songs in particular
Not all tunes are equally ‘sticky.’ Most often, it’s the ones built on simple, easily remembered motifs with plenty of repetition that get stuck in your head. Children’s songs like Baby Shark or hits with catchy choruses are classic examples. If a song is played everywhere and often, the chance that it will pop into your head increases dramatically.
Interestingly, the brain doesn’t replay the entire song, but loops only a specific fragment. This is because the areas responsible for sequencing and song structure aren’t active during these moments. As a result, a person can listen to the same part in their head for hours without recalling the rest of the track.
How to Get Rid of an Earworm
For many, an earworm is more than just a curious phenomenon—it can be a real problem. Sometimes, a melody won’t let go for hours or even days, making it hard to concentrate. There are ways to help “chase” an intrusive song out of your head.
One effective method is to sing the melody out loud or share it with others. Social interaction shifts the brain’s focus to other tasks, so the default mode network stops dominating. Of course, it’s not always convenient to sing in public, especially if the song is odd or irritating.
Another approach is to replace the persistent melody with a different, less repetitive one. For example, a simple song like Happy Birthday rarely becomes an earworm because it doesn’t have cyclic repeats. Sometimes, switching your focus to complex tasks or physical activity helps—the brain gets busy and stops looping the tune.
In case you didn’t know, the term “earworm” first appeared in German as Ohrwurm and quickly spread worldwide. Today, scientists from various countries are actively studying this phenomenon, exploring its effects on memory, attention, and emotional states. RUSSPAIN.COM reminds readers that such occurrences are a normal part of brain function and do not require medical intervention unless they cause significant discomfort.
