We've all been there: you hear a catchy¹ song and for days - or even weeks - on end you just can't get it out of your head.

我们都遇到过这种状况：你听完一首口水歌后，连续数日甚至数周你都没办法将其摆脱掉——这首歌就是在你脑中阴魂不散。

Known as an earworm or brainworm, the effect has been studied before - but its cause, and how to get rid of it, is poorly understood.

这就是俗称的“耳朵虫”，先前曾经对“耳朵虫效应”进行过研究，但是“耳朵虫”的起源、如何摆脱“耳朵虫”，却一直令人费解。

Now researchers say they have an answer; chewing gum after hearing a catchy song will help you think about it less often.

如今研究人员宣称他们找到了答案：听完口水歌后嚼一嚼口香糖，你就不会那么频繁地想起这首歌。

The study was carried out by scientists at the University of Reading.

雷丁大学的科学家们开展了这项研究。

In the research 98 volunteers were played the 'catchy tunes²' Play Hard by David Guetta and Payphone by Maroon³ 5.

在研究中，科学家们给98位志愿者播放大卫·库塔的Play Hard和魔力红乐队的Payphone，这两首歌的曲调都朗朗上口。

Over the next three minutes, they were then asked to hit a key every time they thought of the songs - while chewing gum, not chewing gum or tapping their finger.

三分钟后，研究人员让志愿者们——不论他们是在嚼口香糖，还是不嚼口香糖，或是在轻敲手指——每次想起这两首歌就按一个键。

While chewing gum, volunteers reported thinking of the song less often than when they weren't chewing gum, or when they were told to tap their finger instead.

据志愿者报告，他们嚼口香糖时比不嚼口香糖和敲击手指时想起歌的次数更少。

And chewing gum also reduced the amount they 'heard' the song in their minds by a third.

嚼口香糖会使他们幻听到这两首歌的次数减少1/3。

The study is the first to examine the effects of chewing gum on earworms - and it suggests it could also be used to stop other unwanted or intrusive⁴ thoughts.

这是首次就嚼口香糖对耳朵虫的影响进行研究。研究指出，嚼口香糖也可以被用来阻止讨厌的念头或想法入侵。

'Interfering⁵ with our own “inner speech” through a more sophisticated version of the gum-chewing approach may work more widely,' said Dr Phil Beaman, from the University's School of Psychology⁶ and Clinical Language Sciences, who led the study.

带领此一研究的是该大学临床心理学和语言科学学院的菲尔比曼博士，他说：“通过和嚼口香糖类似但更复杂的方法，对于阻断'内心的言语'也许能起到更大的作用。”

'However more research is needed to see whether this will help counter symptoms of obsessive-compulsive and similar disorders⁷.'

不过这种方法能否帮助对抗强迫症和类似病症，还有待进一步研究。

In a previous study by the University of Reading in 2009, it was found that almost any song can become an earworm.

早前在2009年雷丁大学的研究就发现，几乎任何一首歌都可能成为耳朵虫。

A recent poll suggested over 90 per cent of the population experience them at least once a week with 15 per cent classifying their earworms as 'disturbing'.

最近的一项调查显示，超过90%的人每周至少有一次耳朵虫经历，其中15%的人认为耳朵虫让自己“困扰”。