Earworm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Earworm may also refer to the Helicoverpa zea (corn earworm) or the musician DJ Earworm.
Earworm, a loan translation of the German Ohrwurm, [1] is a term for a portion of a song or other musical material that repeats compulsively within one's mind, known colloquially as "music being stuck in one's head". Use of the English translation was popularized by James Kellaris and Daniel Levitin. Kellaris' studies demonstrated that different people have varying susceptibilities to earworms, but that almost everybody has been afflicted with one at some time or another.[2] The psychoanalyst Theodor Reik used the term haunting melody to describe the psychodynamic features of the phenomenon.[3] Another scientific term for the phenomenon, involuntary musical imagery, was suggested by the neurologist Oliver Sacks in 2007.[4]
A "repetune" is a song or other musical piece stuck in one's mind. Wanted Words, a feature on CBC Radio One's This Morning hosted by Jane Farrow, also once asked listeners to invent a word for this phenomenon. Submitted entries included "aneurhythm" and "humbug".[5]
Medications that are used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder or anxiety can alleviate the symptoms of earworms.[6]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Untranslatable Words, The Whole Earth Review by Howard Rheingold, 1987
- ^ James J. Kellaris, "Identifying Properties of Tunes That Get ‘Stuck in Your Head", Proceedings of the Society for Consumer Psychology, Winter 2001 Conference, Scottsdale, AZ, American Psychological Society, pp. 66-67
- ^ Reik, Theodor (1960): The Haunting Melody: Psychoanalytic Experiences in Life and Music. [1953]. Grove Press, New York.
- ^ Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia, New York: Alfred A. Knopf (October 16, 2007), ISBN 1400040817
- ^ Deb Calderon and Ken Bellemare, Wizbangers: 101 Quick Action Based Learning Activities, Trafford Publishing, 2005 ISBN 1412052815
- ^ Daniel J. Levitin, This is your brain on music, Dutton Adult (August 3, 2006), ISBN 0525949690
[edit] External links
- "Can't get it out of my head" by Vadim Prokhorov (22 June 2006). Guardian.co.uk
