Unraveling the Mystery of Earworms

The right song can make us feel chills, help pull us out of a bad mood, or take us back in time to the first time we heard it. Elizabeth Margulis, PhD, director of the Music Cognition Lab at Princeton University, talks about how music, memory, emotion and imagination intertwine; why people are especially attached to music from their teen years; whether there’s any music that’s considered universally beautiful; why repetition is important in music; and why we so often get “earworms” stuck in our head. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage.

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