(1) Having a song, tune, or commercial jingle stuck in one's head is a phenomenon (KNOW) ________ as having an earworm.
(2) Most people have had an earworm at one time. (3) The experience is harmless and unrelated to both obsessive-compulsive disorder and endomusia, the (HEAR) ________ of music that is not really there.
(4) Certain songs — simple, repetitive, or oddly incongruous — have properties that act as mental mosquito bites in that they produce a cognitive "itch." (5) The condition also arises when people struggle (REMEMBER) ________ forgotten lyrics or how a song ends.
(6) To scratch a cognitive itch, the brain (REPEAT) ________ the song, which then traps the hapless victim in a repeated cycle of itching and scratching.
(7) Everyone has his or her own list of demon tunes that haunt. (8) Earworms occur more often among women, musicians, and individuals who (TEND) ________ to worry.
(9) Earworms also vary across situations, striking when people (TIRE) ________ or under stress.
(10) How can you make an earworm go away? (11) Thinking of something else or actually listening to the song in question are thought to help, but there is presently no research evidence showing what works best. (12) Fortunately, (MANY) ________ episodes eventually dissipate on their own.