We’ve all been there. Your new favorite song, or maybe even a catchy tune you hate, is stuck in your head for hours on end (“gotta get down on Friday,” anyone?). Now, science may have found a way to fix the problem.
Just chew gum.
New research published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology suggests that chewing gum could interfere with musical memories. This is because chewing gum disrupts the “articulatory motor programming,” or the muscles involved in speech.
An experiment done by researchers at the University of Reading tested the theory. Participants listened to “Play Hard” by David Guetta. They had to report any time they thought about the song—first, while trying to suppress the song from their memory, and then while allowing their thoughts to wander. Afterwards, researchers conducted a second experiment similar to the first, except participants reported both when they thought of the song and when they heard the song play in their heads.
The participants in both experiments agreed that chewing gum helped to get rid of that pesky song stuck in their heads. Gum chewing significantly reduced how often they thought of the song and how often they heard the songs playing in their heads.
Researchers then tested the effects of any motor activity, instead of only an articulatory motor activity. The original experiment was repeated for the song “Payphone” by Maroon 5. One group in the test tapped their fingers, while another group chewed gum. Although the tapping helped to get rid of the mental songs, chewing gum was more effective.
The theory came from an anonymous online post, where many odd—but sometimes groundbreaking—ideas originate. So, the next time you find yourself humming the chorus to a Pitbull or Meghan Trainor song, go ahead and reach for that pack of Double Bubble you have stuffed in your purse.