A tune is stuck in my Head « Madhuri’s Thoughts

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A tune is stuck in my Head

October 10, 2007 by madhurisinha

Has this occurred with you when a song or an advertisement jingle gets stuck into your head and seems to be unavoidable?

Well i suffer from the disease of tune attachment (tunearia aka tuneitis or even tuneemonia) and sometimes it is so bad that i have side effects of insomnia and subsequently dark under eye circles compounded with it.

Yesterday when for the sixth day the latest Old Navy sweater jingle left me sleep deprived, I looked up what the cognitive scientists have to say about this common affliction (YooHoo, i am as insane as the next normal person).

It seems that the auditory cortex in the brain that is the site of processing sounds, can be recruited even in the absence of the sound. Although research in this area is still in its infancy, scientists have found that the visual cortex is as guilty as the auditory receptors. (http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0896627305005180)

What i really marveled at was the human form; not only can we enjoy music but also replay it in our heads when we need to or sometimes as in my case have no control over the replay (may be i am insane).

But is it necessary to see everything so scientifically and not just enjoy music because We Can? I think it is an occupational hazard for which i guess there is no actual cure.

I do not think this ailment is hereditary because my parents have genuine concerns that keep them awake at night (like how in the world did they end up with me, in spite of re checking the family trees over and over again).

The scientific knowledge has however, helped me. Since I started reading the research paper and writing this post, the old Navy jingle has subsided to a mere whimper.

I think Descartes was right in some ways, although in my case it is

‘ I know so I can sleep’

Posted in Entertainment, science | Tagged Entertainment, music, science | 10 Comments

10 Responses to “A tune is stuck in my Head”

on October 10, 2007 at 1:151 Shefaly

Now I understand why Kylie’s ‘Can’t get you out of my head’ was always stuck in my head…
on October 10, 2007 at 1:152 madhurisinha

You know Shefaly, i just found out from an interview by Oliver Sacks, who is a neurologist at Columbia and has just released a new book
” Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain” that some people have musical hallucinations with advancing deafness. I hope we are not progressing towards madness with music.
we will end up both deaf and mad. !
on October 11, 2007 at 1:153 amreekandesi

haha..funny one! I try my best to reach this condition…about time i deprived myself of some sleep. Have been listening to the Marigold soundtrack non stop for two days. Still doesnt get stuck How did you manage?
on October 11, 2007 at 1:154 madhurisinha

Is that Salman Khan’s Marigold? I should listen to it if its that good.
About my condition…my head i guess has its own mind.
on October 11, 2007 at 1:155 amreekandesi

that is the one. Initially the songs seemed unimpressive to me…but then i realised later that they arent all that bad. Even great maybe, some of them.
on October 11, 2007 at 1:156 Shefaly

Madhuri:

“.. my head i guess has its own mind…”

You may be interested in this book by Cordelia Fine: A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives!

If you read it let us all know how it was. I have a 19 book backlog of reading in the last 12 or so weeks… Boo hoo hoo…
on October 11, 2007 at 1:157 madhurisinha

Thanks Shefaly, It seems like an interesting book.
I will try and read it.
As soon as i finish with the books at hand.
I thought taking a break would heal by slipped disc problem, but seems like time just flies even when all i am doing now is just sitting at home (as my well meaning friends like to call it).
on October 12, 2007 at 1:158 mahendrap

I have the most severe case of tune attachment. I suffered from it for as long as I remember and am destined to be a lifelong victim, unless neurosurgery makes quantum advances within my lifetime.

I might enjoy a Beethoven symphony and be lost in it for a few minutes, but then an irritating car reverse or elevator door open tune can wipe out the entire symphony. For the next 5-6 hours, I can suffer replaying only the irritating tune in my mind, with me having no control over it.

Focusing consciousness on trying to obliterate it makes matters worse. Listening to something else may work only as long as you keep listening to something else. Then its back to where you began.

I’m so glad someone has this same affliction. Madhuri - thank you, I feel much better already!
on October 12, 2007 at 1:159 mahendrap

Sorry, I meant significant advances, not quantum.
on October 12, 2007 at 1:1510 madhurisinha

// Focusing consciousness on trying to obliterate it makes matters worse.//

How True Mahendra, my exact experience.

Thanks