eli5: Why our mind keep repeating certain line or tune of a song we heard or repeat certain dialogue we heard? And how can i stop?
In: Biology
When I am waking the dog, there is always some song in my head that matches the 4/4 pace of my stride. When I am waiting for “buffering” or something like it to end, there is some annoying, simple, repetitive melody playing. If I am driving and am annoyed, some sort of raucous rock song pounds in my brain.
The people who have replied here are either frustrated psychology majors or just nice people trying to be helpful. Minds like ours are forever cursed to fill our virtual ears with brain noise that is usually distracting and always unhelpful. It won’t stop. Ever.
Your mind is repeating a pattern over and over. I’ve found that the best way to stop it is to break the pattern. If there’s a song stuck in your head, be mindful of it and don’t let yourself finish the pattern (song). Break it off into a new meaningless pattern (song). Do this a few times and your mind stops repeating the pattern.
One way to get rid of a song repeating in your head is to just play out the end of the song, and it goes.
The mind is recursive by nature. If you practice meditation (emptying your mind) you can learn to quiet things like that, but it will also just happen over time. Debilitating forms of this can manifest as what we know as OCD, bipolar disorder, etc. Typically the repetition of thoughts is a vague anxiety that we are trying to avoid, so learning to face your fears rather than subconsciously hiding from them (mentally) will also likely help alleviate them. What you’re describing is often remedied by talking to people about whatever is bugging you, so if you want to chat with me feel free to reply.
If you are genuinely just talking about music lyrics or something relatively innocuous, the meditation part would be the most helpful. (And just waiting/focusing on other things)
That sort of thing is called an [earworm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earworm). According to Wikipedia, the best way to get rid of one is to solve a moderately difficult puzzle, or listen to another familiar song.
It may be explained by Baddeley’s model of working memory, specifically the [phonological loop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baddeley%27s_model_of_working_memory#Phonological_loop); a process in your brain that helps you learn and process languages by looping heard or remembered sounds over and over, so you have time to think about them.
I’ve had this my whole life. I’ve learned that when I sing a different song that isn’t so catchy, I can get rid of the repeating one. My go to song is the oldie ‘Rock Around the Clock’
I’ve once read advice on how to rid yourself of an earworm. I’ve found it quite practical. It is simply to listen. Focus your attention to every sound you hear. Listen closely and deeply to all the sound happening around you wherever you are. I find that it really does pulls the attention away from that annoying repetition going on. Hope it helps.
Usually this is because you don’t know the whole lyrics of the song, so your brain is constantly trying to figure out how does it end. It’s very common that we keep something in our minds if we only experienced the mystery (like a line of a song) but not the resolution (the other lines). So you should basically try learning the song lyrics if a line is what’s in your mind or listening to it again so your brain remembers the resolution (that every melody has) if the tune is your problem!
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