An earworm is a song you can’t get out of your head.  Once I had Lineman for the County by Glen Campbell stuck in my brain for several days.  As much as I love and respect Mr. Campbell’s music, there’s not much room in my brain for more than a passing thought about it. Oh dear, it’s back…

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It can be super irritating to have a song stuck in your head, and it can last for days or even weeks. Researchers have now come up with a new way to eliminate these earworms– all you have to do is chew gum. Scientists from the University of Reading had 98 volunteers listen to two catchy songs. Then for the next three minutes they were asked to hit a key every time they thought of the songs– either while chewing gum, not chewing gum, or tapping their finger. While chewing gum, participants reported thinking of the song less often compared to when they weren’t chewing gum or tapping their finger. Chewing gum also reduced the amount they “heard” the song in their heads by 33 percent. Study leader Dr. Phil Beaman adds, “Interfering with our own ‘inner speech’ through a more sophisticated version of the gum chewing approach may work more widely.” (Daily Mail) (Image: pixabay.com)