- Only some people experience ASMR, a trait where people may feel a tingling sensation on their scalp and back of the neck in response to auditory and/or visual stimuli.
- There is a wide range of sensory experiences that can trigger ASMR.
- Although not everyone experiences ASMR, some people may watch ASMR videos for a relaxing effect.
Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) videos may have become a trend on YouTube in the last few years, but the phenomenon existed way before the videos did. There is some science about the biology behind it, but there’s still quite a bit we don’t understand about ASMR and how it works.
For the people that experience it, ASMR is a tingling sensation on their scalp and back of the neck in response to auditory and/or visual stimuli, and sometimes that feeling can spread throughout their body. Most people who have ASMR experience their first ASMR experience during childhood, says Giulia Poerio of the University of Essex. And you don’t need to watch a video to experience ASMR.
“Though we’ve got all of these YouTube videos that essentially simulate scenarios that would induce ASMR in real life, and people can still experience as much as they go about their daily lives and actually quite a lot of people do,” says Poerio.
There may be some misconceptions out there about ASMR and people who enjoy ASMR videos. It’s not typically a sexual thing, and it’s not something everyone can experience just by watching the videos, Poerio says.
“I think people who don’t experience ASMR, when they see the videos, they think that they’re somehow quite weird and creepy, and they don’t understand it at all,” Poerio tells Changing America. “So, I think it’s important to highlight that it is an everyday experience for quite a lot of people.”
In other words, it’s not a trend or a fad.
ASMR was first described by scientists in 2015. There is not a lot of research into ASMR, but we do know that it is a real a physiological experience like getting chills from music. It’s also similar to synesthesia where people experience multiple senses at once like seeing colors when they hear music. Turns out, about six percent of people who experience ASMR also experience synesthesia, so these may be linked in the brain.
In a pair of studies, participants, including people who experience ASMR and people who don’t, watched ASMR and nonASMR videos while certain vitals were measured, such as heart rate. The studies showed that the ASMR videos gave a “pleasant affect” only in people who experience ASMR. It also showed that ASMR was linked to reduced heart rates and increased skin conductance levels, which is a physiological sign of excitement or arousal, in this case in a nonsexual way.
“What we found was that people who say they experienced ASMR show significant increases in feelings of relaxation and calmness,” says Poeiro who was lead author on those studies.
This could explain why ASMR videos have become popular.
These studies were the first evidence of physiological changes in the body due to ASMR, but there is a lot that we still don’t know about ASMR and what happens in the bodies of people who experience it. Some researchers are looking into whether there are certain personality types that are more likely to experience ASMR. In another study, researchers surveyed 130 people to learn about the range of triggers for ASMR, and found that lower pitched complex sounds were especially effective as triggers of ASMR.
One area of research that is yet to be explored indepth is the neural connections in the brain that are related to ASMR, says Poerio. Some research has looked into connectivity in different areas of the brain, but we are far from understanding what the connections mean and why they may be different in people who experience ASMR.
What is known about ASMR seems to indicate that it’s not something you can learn or pick up from watching videos.
“It’s something you have or you don’t,” says Poerio.
It might be difficult for people who don’t experience ASMR to understand what ASMR videos are for and why people enjoy them. But while not many people actually experience ASMR, they may still benefit from those videos. For example, there’s a possibility that watching ASMR videos can help to reduce anxiety or help with insomnia, although these haven’t been verified by scientific studies.
If you are thinking about trying to watch ASMR videos, Poerio warns that some of the most popular ASMR videos may not be for you. There’s a whole range of types of ASMR videos, and one of the most popular categories is food, or watching people eat. If that may not be your cup of tea, you can try for other types of ASMR videos first; such as videos that use whispering and other sounds and visuals.
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