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Earworms: Those songs that get stuck in your head - Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis

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TEDEd Animation

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Have you ever been waiting in line at the grocery store, innocently perusing the magazine rack, when a song pops into your head? Not the whole song, but a fragment of it that plays and replays until you find yourself unloading the vegetables in time to the beat? Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis explores earworms — a cognitive phenomenon that plagues over 90% of people at least once a week.

Most earworms are composed of a:

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis
  • Director Outis
  • Composer Cem Misirlioglu
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

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