By finally, I of course mean that this came out in 2003 and I just read about it today.

It’s a “brain itch:”

“Certain songs have properties that are analogous to histamines that make our brain itch.

“The only way to scratch a cognitive itch is to repeat the offending melody in our minds.”

If misery loves company, then feel good about the fact that having a song stuck in your head affects 97-99% of the population. Musicians get it more than others, however.

And it can affect people to different degrees. Mozart, for example, had an extreme case:

Mozart’s children would “infuriate” him by playing melody and scales on the piano below his room – but stopping before completing the tune.

“He would have to rush down and complete the scale because he couldn’t bear to listen to an unresolved scale,” Mr Smith related.

As for how to get it to stop… you really can’t.

However, like hiccups, some people prescribe remedies anyway.

Some people swear by the “replacement method” where you try to get a less annoying song stuck up there, while others, like Mozart, favor the “completion method” where hearing the completed tune solves the problem.

As for me, I try to figure out who let those dogs out. That always seems to work.

Source: BBC