Chew gum to clear your head

Want to get rid of a nagging thought or the pesky lyrics you heard a week ago? Well, chew gum, advises a new study

A new study conducted in England suggests chewing gum can rid you of earworms; also known as stuck song syndrome. If you wish to get rid of a song that’s been stuck in your head for days chewing gum may be the cure.

A study headed by Dr. Philip Beaman, suggests that interfering with your 'inner speech' through more sophisticated chewing gum techniques might have better results.

The phenomenon of earworm has existed since the early 19th century Beaman explains. Edgar Allan Poe also referenced a'ringing in his ears' in his work. An earlier study conducted by the University of Reading in 2009 revealed that almost any song can become an earworm.

In the study conducted by Beaman, 98 volunteers were played catchy songs Play Hard by David Guetta and Payphone by Maroon 5.

Over the next 3 minutes, they were asked to hit a key every time they thought of the songs; while chewing gum, not chewing gum and tapping their fingers.

The volunteers reported thinking of the song less often while chewing gum than while doing nothing or tapping their fingers.

This kind of activity not just helps with songs stuck in your head but can also help banish invasive thoughts particularly those that can also be heard.

In a 2006 book by Daniel Levitin entitled This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, he states that research has shown musicians and people with  (OCD) are more likely to suffer from earworm attacks.

While it is effective in driving out music and thoughts, more research will be needed to discover its efficacy in countering obsessive-compulsive behavior and other such disorders. The study was published in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.