WE have been recording episodes of the American television series Glee to watch with Secondborn over the Easter holidays.

It’s our little treat. A sing-along hour of tongue-in-cheek High School drama with the delightful Mr Schu, smugly-sinister Sue Sylvester – the woman we love to hate – and the many awesomely-talented show choir members.

On Tuesday we spoiled ourselves by watching two episodes back-to-back, the second of which was themed around Valentine’s Day.

As I went to bed I had the chorus of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” ringing in my ears.

“That’s a real earworm, isn’t it?” I said to Secondborn.

She gave me a blank look, or perhaps it was one of those ‘what is she rambling on about now’ looks.

“What’s an earworm?”

“Oh,” said I, secretly pleased to be one up on contemporary ‘newspeak’. “Have you never heard that expression before.” In fact, I’d only discovered the term about two weeks before while listening to a radio show.

“It’s when you get a song stuck in your head and find yourself humming it all day.”

And, immediately, she knew what I meant. Which is not surprising as researchers estimate that up to 98% of us have earworms from time to time. Women are troubled by them more than men and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder sufferers are the most prone.

At work the next day I enquired if anyone else had heard of earworms. They hadn’t, but they had all experienced the phenomenon. One colleague said he and his wife referred to them as tune viruses and enjoy ‘infecting’ each other by humming a song in the other’s presence and then waiting to see if it re-appears at some point later in the day.

Serious research has been conducted on the subject of earworms (which is from the German ohrwurm) and there’s even a Top Ten of earworm tunes and songs – albeit a little on the dated side.

Included in the list are such annoying classics as Kylie Minogue’s “Just Can’t Get You Out of My Head” (of course); the theme from Mission Impossible; YMCA by the Village People; James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful”; and the Happy Days theme.

I’d add anything by Abba to that list – watching Mamma Mia always triggers off a major earworm infection that can take several days to clear up – and Paul McCartney’s Mull of Kintyre, which is possibly one of the most irritating and catchy tunes ever.

The highly infectious list is actually endless because it includes every catchy and repetitive song you have ever heard.

In fact, the term earworm, while itself catchier than its more academic alternatives – musical imagery repetition or involuntary musical imagery – is inaccurate .

We don’t remember music with our ears, we only use them as listening apparatus. The business of storing sounds is done by the brain’s auditory cortex which can be likened to an internal iPod. This cortex is activated when we listen to a song and is reactivated when we imagine we are hearing the song, ie when the earworm goes to work.

James Kellaris, a professor from the University of Cincinnati, is acknowledged as something of a world expert on the phenomenon. He says: “Earworms seem to be interactions between properties of music (catchy songs are simple and repetitive); characteristics of individuals (levels of neuroticism) and properties of the context or situation (first thing in the morning , last thing at night or when people are under stress).”

I’d certainly go along with this as earworms seem to trouble me most in the night when I’m feeling anxious or tense.

Although it’s entirely normal to acquire earworms, it’s not that easy to rid oneself of them once they’ve burrowed in. However, researchers say that thinking about why the tune has taken over can sometimes bring relief because it focuses the mind on a problem that needs solving or something that needs doing.

It’s also worth trying to use an ‘eraser’ song. Try singing something else to counteract the worm.

If all else fails, most earworms dissipate within 24 hours. Except for the Mull of Kintyre worm which can sometimes be fatal!