Herbert Polecat » brain http://herbertpolecat.com The Rise & Fall of Herbert Polecat Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:59:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 How Tunes Get Stuck in Your Head http://herbertpolecat.com/how-tunes-get-stuck-in-your-head/ http://herbertpolecat.com/how-tunes-get-stuck-in-your-head/#comments Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:22:07 +0000 admin http://herbertpolecat.com/?p=68 Suddenly there’s this tune going round in your head, it’s even more infuriating if you can’t remember what it was, well now scientists think they know how that happens.

Scientists may have found what makes a tune catchy, after locating the brain area where a song’s “hook” gets caught.

A US team from Dartmouth College, reported in the journal Nature, played volunteers tunes with snippets cut out.

They scanned for brain activity and found it centred in the auditory cortex – which handles information from ears.

When familiar tunes played, the cortex activity continued during the blanks – and the volunteers indeed said they still mentally “heard” the tunes.

Catchy songs

Researchers have previously argued that catchy songs work by causing a “brain itch” that can only be scratched by repeating the tune.

Our brains are marvellous things I love learning about their possibilities

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