A boy chewing gum
IN PHOTO: A child blows a bubble gum as he attends a donation of baseball equipments organized by Homerun hopefuls in Santo Domingo July 12, 2011. Homerun hopefuls is an American non-profit organization that collects both new and slightly used baseball equipment for impoverished children in the Dominican Republic. Reuters/Eduardo Munoz

A new study from the University of Reading in England found that chewing gum helps in removing that catchy tune stuck in your head. The study was led by Dr Phil Beaman of the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences.

The study involved 98 volunteers who were instructed to listen to catchy songs such as Maroon 5’s Payphone. After which, the volunteers were told to chew gum. The result of the experiment showed that these volunteers reported hearing or thinking less of the song.

Previous research has shown that moving your jaw around can interfere with the short-term memory. But with this new study, researchers explore the effect of chewing gum in making those catchy tunes, referred to as “earworms”, disappear.

According to Beaman, the earworm phenomenon traces back to the 19th century, with famous authors Mark Twain and Edgar Allan Poe known to have used the term in some of their works. Some people experience earworms for a rather short period of time, while others may have them stuck for days, which can be frustrating.

Beaman’s study wants to find out if chewing gum can really help and the results showed that it did. Aside from helping those who are disturbed earworms, the study suggests gum chewing should also be able to help block intrusive thoughts.

However, Beaman believes the study doesn’t stop there. “more research is needed to see whether this will help counter symptoms of obsessive-compulsive and similar disorders,” he said in a report released by the university’s Web Site.

In another study by the university in 2009, it showed that any song can get stuck in your head and bother you for days. In that study, people were asked if they had earworms as well as the the duration and type of tunes they usually hear. Beaman said that in most cases, popular songs are difficult to block off.

Though further research is needed, the researchers suggest trying the chewing gum tactic if you really want to get that stuck song out of your head.

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