Today, let’s boldly analyze the reasons why you love Pikachu

This year's Children's Day, KFC became popular because of a duck...

I don’t know how many friends are like me, who have been waiting online and offline for n days but still failed to grab a Psyduck.

Although it is hard to find one on the market, the overwhelming number of Psyduck videos on the Internet have successfully "brainwashed" many people with its magical soundtrack.

"Dingdangdang, dingdangdang~ dingdangdang, dingdangdang~"

In fact, this is not the first time that everyone has been "brainwashed" by magical melodies. From the age-revealing "Gangnam Style" to the recent "Thank You", brainwashing songs are endless... It is said that the reason why those melodies can easily occupy our minds is because of "earworms".

The addictive earworm

"Steamed buns, four for one dollar, hehe!"

"You love me and I love you, Mixue Ice City is sweet."

Source: Mixue Ice City theme song MV (the melody is adapted from the American folk song "Oh, Susanna")

We may not like these melodies, but they appear in our minds from time to time, just like an insect living in our ear - an earworm.

The word earworm comes from the German word "ohrwurm". As early as the 16th century, people used it to describe the phenomenon of a song "buzzing" repeatedly in their minds. Not only that, it also has a more formal name: Involuntary Musical Imagery (IMI).

Studies have found that nearly 99% of people have experienced earworms, and about 91% experience it once a week.

Why do people experience the earworm effect?

Dr. Tim Byron, who studies the interaction between music and memory at the School of Psychology at the University of Wollongong in Australia, said that music is largely associated with conscious memory, and certain special triggering conditions, such as a certain place, a certain situation, or a certain emotion, can trigger people's specific memories of certain songs. The lyrics and melodies return to our minds and repeat over and over again, eventually forming the phenomenon of "divine song brainwashing".

What kind of "earworms" are more likely to "brainwash"

Generally speaking, after listening to a song more than four or five times, people will become familiar with its melody and know what the following notes are when they hear one note.

Then why is it that among the many songs we have listened to, only a few can become “divine songs”?

To this end, researchers conducted research on the "brainwashing index" of songs.

James Clares of the University of Cincinnati in the United States believes that the structure of a piece of music is the key to determining its "brainwashing index". Fast tempo, simple melody, and specific intervals that are different from general pop songs, such as jumps and repetitions, can make a song more catchy and more likely to become an "earworm".

Source: "Little Apple" MV

Researchers at the University of Lucerne in Switzerland once analyzed more than 50 popular songs and found that music that can become "earworms" often has long note beats and small intervals. Such songs are less difficult and easier to learn to sing.

It seems that strong sense of rhythm and catchyness are the common characteristics of "earworms".

In addition, a person's mental state is also an important factor affecting the earworm effect. Studies have found that people are more likely to be attacked by "earworms" when they are tired, stressed or dazed.

How to get rid of earworms

In addition to being catchy, the rhythm of those popular "top divine songs" is often in line with the physiological laws of the human body.

Take the song "Gangnam Style" which was popular all over the world at that time as an example. Its core rhythm is composed of only 5 syllables. The whole song has a cycle of 3.6 seconds and repeats the core rhythm more than 100 times.

In addition to the essential features of a "divine song," researchers also found that its rhythm is very close to a person's heart rate after jogging, which is the moment when the human body feels most excited, so it sounds particularly "exciting."

Another study used magnetic resonance imaging technology to detect the brain responses of subjects when listening to songs and found that "familiar" songs can increase the listeners' brain activity and dopamine production, and this effect has nothing to do with whether people like the song.

In other words, even if you "really dislike" this song, as long as it has become familiar to you through supermarket background music, square dancing and short videos, it can still successfully "brainwash" you.

Once you are targeted by the "earworms" you don't like, it is not a pleasant experience to have the "brainwashing songs" you don't like suddenly playing in your mind on a loop during highly stressful moments such as exams and work.

So, what can we do to get rid of the harassment of "earworms"?

In fact, the earworm effect generally does not cause any harm to us. If you don’t want to “hear” a certain song, just try not to think about it, and after a while the “earworm” will disappear on its own.

In addition, "divine songs" often rely on a particularly magical melody to achieve "brainwashing". At this time, just try to listen to or sing the entire song to break the "vicious circle" of brainwashing.

Source: Screenshot of "Pokemon", emoticons from the Internet

If these methods don't work, we can also use the "killer weapon" - replace the song that is looping in the brain with another melody. However, there are certain "risks" in doing so. Often, we finally find a melody that can beat the "divine song", but in the end, we are replaced by another "earworm" to brainwash us.

END

Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Editor/Xiao Xitushuo