99% of the population has felt "infected" at some point by a song that cannot be removed from their heads . Andréane McNally-Gagnon and Silvie Hébert, from the University of Montreal (Canada), have decided to study the phenomenon in depth.
In their experiments, they asked French-speaking netizens to rate 100 pop songs based on their ability to make themselves catchy. First place went to Ça fait rire les oiseaux , by La Compagnie Créole, followed by I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor), Don't Worry, Be Happy (Bobby McFerrin), Live Is Life (Opus) and Singing in the Rain ( Gene Kelly).
After compiling the ranking, the researchers invited 18 professional musicians and 18 ordinary subjects to hum and record their "obsessive" songs and note their mental state before and after . And they observed that the answer was different: the catchy song ( earworm or "ear worm" in English) stayed longer in the heads of the musicians.
The phenomenon, they conclude, occurs mainly when subjects have a positive emotional state and are busy with non-intellectual activities such as walking , which requires little concentration. ? Perhaps it is a mechanism to prevent our head from "rummaging" other thoughts or from changing our mood ,? they explain.
