Happy Feet

   

    Picture this: you're sitting somewhere, waiting for a train, a plane, a class to start, or the doctor to come poking into the waiting room. You put in some headphones to pass the time and play your favorite Spotify playlist. About 15 seconds go by and you notice you're already tapping your feet, humming loudly, and nodding your head. You don't want to draw attention so you stop. 20 seconds later you're back at it again. Why do we do this? Are Metro's beats really that good?

     Turns out that when you listen to music, quite a few things happen. Your heart rate increases, you feel desirable emotions, and multiple areas of the brain are stimulated. One study done at McGill University showed that listening to music can release dopamine, the chemical that is responsible for making you feel good. Dancing is believed to have evolved from rhythmic movement, such as tapping feet.

     According to a study posted in Science Daily, moving to music is a part of a human cognition called "motor theory of perception." According to the theory, when we listen to music, we have a habit of actively simulating the body movements that we believe went into making that sound. Researchers at the University of Oslo also determined that people make sense of what they hear by mentally simulating it to make sense of it.

     There's nothing wrong with being an incessant foot tapper. According to one study, fidgeting helps burn calories, up to 350 a day, and we hate those, right?

     So tapping feet is cool and all, but what's up with humming? Well it's believed that humming has evolved over time and used to be the "contact call" of humans, which is a way animals communicate. Humming is also believed to be a type of relaxer for humans, since sitting in complete silence can be uncomfortable and seen as a sign of danger. Like breathing and putting our fingers in our mouths, humming seems to be something we do unconsciously without much thought.
     An earworm, or "stuck song syndrome" is the habit of humming or moving to a song that you're no longer listening too. You can easily "catch" an earworm: after listening to your new favorite song, seeing the same annoying commercial, or watching the intro to your favorite 90s sitcom. Even seeing something that reminds you of the sound. Who hasn't hummed the Disney theme after popping in the Lion King VHS tape?
    No one knows what causes them, though it's believed that 98% of people experience them. One study found that lyrical songs may account for 73.7% of earworms, while instrumental music may only account for 7.7%. A piano piece, or Bruno Mars? Hmm. It's also believed that musicians and people with OCD suffer the most earworms. Earworms typically don't last more than 30 seconds and they're very forgettable. Humming is also believed to be contagious, just like yawning, and is also believed to have benefits on the body and mind.
     Tapping your feet and nodding your head is natural. Music influences us and moving to it is what we're supposed to do. If tapping your feet or nodding your head does annoy you though, well hey it's at least better than tinnitus.

*Fast Company, Washington Post, Science Daily, Psychology Today, Skyword, Scientific American, The Straight Dope, Quora, Rejuvenation Lounge, Joseph Jordania "Time to Fight and Times to Relax: Singing and Humming at the Beginnings of Human Evolutionary History."