What does ASMR do to your brain? Watch these videos and find out.

Publish date: 2024-08-05

A genre of video called ASMR is an increasingly popular form of online entertainment. Some viewers claim the videos give them pleasurable tingling sensations and help them relax and fall asleep.

ASMR search term

interest over time

YouTube search in the U.S.

Values represent

search interest relative to its highest point.

100 is peak popularity.

MARCH 2023

Source: Google Trends

ASMR search term

interest over time

YouTube search in the U.S.

Values represent

search interest relative

to its highest point.

100 is peak popularity.

MARCH 2023

Source: Google Trends

ASMR search term interest over time

YouTube search in the U.S.

Values represent

search interest relative

to its highest point.

100 is peak popularity.

MARCH 2023

Source: Google Trends

Since 2010, interest in ASMR content has steadily risen on video streaming services such as YouTube.

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Watch and listen. What do you feel?

Does it make you feel relaxed, peaceful and drowsy?

Do you feel a “tingly” sensation?

ASMR is short for autonomous sensory meridian response. For some people, specific sounds and images — like whispering, slurping noodles or crinkling paper — may trigger pleasurable sensations or feelings of euphoria, relaxation or well-being.

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Scientists don’t fully understand why some people get these sensations — or why these videos also make some people cringe. But emerging research offers some clues into what areas of the brain may be involved.

“It’s a bit bizarre, but it’s also blissful,” said Craig Richard, professor of physiology at Shenandoah University and founder of the ASMR University website. “It’s basically a deeply relaxing feeling that someone gets, and it involves these sparkly brain tingles.

ASMR CATEGORY:

ASMR videos come in a variety of forms. “Classic” ASMR videos may include whispering and tapping sounds.

Common qualities in ASMR videos

ASMR videos vary greatly, but many share a similar aesthetic. They are often tightly cropped and close to the camera to create a sense of intimacy. Movements are slow and deliberate.

Creators sometimes use two microphones spaced about seven inches apart — similar to the distance between an adult’s ears — for a 3D stereo sound. If you wear headphones, it may sound like you and the ASMR host are in the same room.

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ASMR and the brain

One of the main areas that seems to be activated while watching ASMR content is the prefrontal cortex, a key region of the brain connected to social behavior in relationships.

Other neuroimaging studies found that ASMR experiences activate the brain’s reward system. This includes the nucleus accumbens, which receives dopamine, as well as centers of emotional arousal.

In one recent study, Natalie Roberts, a visiting fellow at Macquarie University, and her colleagues surveyed over 300 ASMR experiencers on their preferred “triggers.”

Almost half picked “close personal attention.” “Watching people do things in a careful way” came in second, with 43 percent.

Another possible difference between those who do and do not experience ASMR may involve the brain’s default mode network, which involves areas of the brain associated with internally focused attention, such as daydreaming or mind-wandering.

Research has found that those who experience ASMR have different connectivity patterns in this part of the brain compared to those who don’t respond to the videos.

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But what causes the involuntary “tingles” that start at the top of the head and move down the neck and spine is still a mystery.

“It’s very relaxing, but also very euphoric,” said Giulia Poerio, psychologist at the University of Sussex. “Some people say that it’s a kind of hypnotic-type trancelike state of relaxation.”

ASMR’s effects on the body

In a 2018 study, Poerio and her colleagues found that ASMR (the response itself) was associated with a lowered heart rate, which is a sign of relaxation, but also increased skin conductance response, which is a physical sign of excitement.

Some parents use ASMR videos to lull children to sleep. Videos with slime and crinkling paper are usually kid-friendly. But some ASMR videos are adult-oriented.

ASMR by itself is not a sexual feeling, Poerio said. “If you’re feeling sexually aroused when you’re watching an ASMR YouTube video, you’re not feeling ASMR — you’re feeling sexually aroused,” she said.

A link with misophonia

Many ASMR-experiencing people — 43 percent in one study — may also experience a different auditory condition called misophonia, where they feel a strong dislike or disgust for specific sounds such as chewing.

Though misophonia and ASMR seem like polar opposites, their underlying mechanisms may be similar: heightened sensitivity to the senses. One key difference may be control, Roberts said. For example, a person might find a sound such as tapping to be a pleasurable trigger in a video they choose to watch, but annoying from a stranger in a waiting room.

ASMR CATEGORY:

CRUSHING, CRINKLING AND SLIME

These videos often focus on chalk, slime or paper being crushed. Videos often showcase hands and repetitive movements. This category may also include diverse themes such as unboxing items, woodworking or making art.

Who experiences ASMR?

It is not known exactly how many people can experience ASMR. Some research in undergraduates or working adults indicates that it could be up to 15 to 20 percent of the population, though no peer-reviewed studies with representative samples of the general population have been conducted.

Many say their first experience with ASMR happened in childhood, usually before puberty, said Poerio, who has had ASMR for as long as she can remember.

Research suggests that ASMR is also related to the personality trait of openness or receptivity to new experiences and ideas, as well as absorption, which is the ability to be engrossed in an experience.

“I thought I was a freak basically until 2013,” said Poerio. And when she found out that she was not alone, she thought, “Oh, my gosh, it’s not a weird quirk. Other people also have this. And then I was like, I can’t believe no one’s researched this,” she said.

Many first memories of ASMR are triggered by real-life experiences such as a teacher explaining something softly, watching friends coloring on paper, or getting one’s hair cut.

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ASMR CATEGORY:

Some ASMR videos directly acknowledge the viewer and engage in role play, where the performer acts out everyday activities such as giving a haircut or a medical exam. Makeup and self-care videos are exceptionally popular.

How do you know if you have ASMR?

It is also not known how long it takes someone to know if they experience ASMR. “How many ASMR videos does the average ASMR-naive person need to watch before discovering that they do or don’t experience ASMR? No one’s done that study,” Richard said.

Richard had never heard of ASMR before listening to a podcast in 2013. He initially dismissed it as “woo-woo bunk.” Just as he was about to turn off the podcast and delete the episode, the hosts brought up the painter Bob Ross.

“And my eyes lit up. Because I remember being a kid coming home from school and turning on Bob Ross,” Richard said. “To this day, I’ve never painted. It was his voice. It was the sound of his brushes. And it would just sweep over me.”

Ross was the first unintentional ASMR artist, Poerio said. The Design Museum in London even highlights his works in its recent ASMR exhibit.

Elements of ASMR content have bled into our broader culture. In 2019, a Super Bowl commercial showed actor and musician Zoë Kravitz whispering and tapping a bottle of Michelob beer with her fingernails.

Many celebrities have ASMR videos. In one, rapper Cardi B purrs and whispers and says that ASMR videos give her tingling sensations and help her sleep. She also notes that her husband thinks “it’s very strange and weird.”

ASMR CATEGORY:

COOKING AND EATING

Videos about preparing food and eating are also very popular. Triggers may include chopping, unwrapping, loud chewing and slurping sounds.

Most ASMR videos are associated with positive feelings; however, an ASMR subgenre related to food, called “mukbang,” which often depicts someone eating large amounts of food, may be associated with disordered eating.

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How ASMR affects well-being

ASMR helps highly sensory-sensitive people zone out and slow down. One study reported that ASMR could temporarily reduce depression and chronic pain symptoms.

People already use ASMR videos for lifting mood, alleviating anxiety, enjoyment, relaxation and falling asleep.

Even people who don’t experience ASMR have found some of the videos relaxing, Roberts said. “There does appear to be some relaxation benefit to people watching it,” she said. “But the flip side is that some people find the videos really annoying, too.”

“As researchers, we’re kind of playing catch-up to try to figure out why this is helping people,” Roberts said.

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What does ASMR do to your brain? Watch these videos and find out.