ASMR☺☺☺
Autonomous sensory meridian response
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| ASMR |
ASMR is a calming, pleasurable feeling often accompanied by a tingling sensation. This tingle is said to originate in a person’s head and spread to the spine (and sometimes the limbs) in response to stimulation.
The process of ASMR requires someone else to provide these sensations for a person, mainly through sounds produced in a specific way. It can have benefits, including stress reduction.
However, it also is not something that works for everyone, which can be due to a number of factors.
We consulted experts in the field on what ASMR actually is, how it works, and why some people don't feel the benefits.
While it's seen as a fairly new phenomenon, Dr. David Rakofsky, psychologist and president of the Wellington Counseling Group, said it has been around for about 15 years, despite major research not taking place until more recently.
He told Newsweek: "My understanding of the limited literature regarding ASMR is that it emerged as a known experience going back about 15 years, and a community of those familiar with the phenomenon grew from there, once it was labeled.
"Science has not truly weighed in to date with any meaningful or full-throated consensus as to exactly what defines it (what it is and is not), and more importantly, why—biologically, evolutionarily, sensorily and psychologically—people tend to report a shared experience of pleasurable innervation from being exposed to its 'triggers' or typical sources of the sensation."
According to one of the first major research projects on the subject from the University of Sheffield in the U.K., which took place in 2018, the brain tingles associated with ASMR are often characterized as a warm, pleasant sensation that starts in the head and moves down the body.
They also note these are sometimes known as brain orgasms, though the data suggests the feelings experienced through ASMR are not sexual in nature.
Rakofsky said this can sometimes be linked to personality, and a person's environment as to whether they experience these things.
He said: "There are personality factors that have been shown to differentiate those who seek out ASMR, if not, those for whom ASMR has a noticeable and desired effect.
"What underlies those personality factors will always be a topic of debate, but for all human variation in personality, it comes down to a combination of biological and constitutional "givens" (call them "traits") from birth and how those traits are impacted by the world one is raised in; how that environment feeds back on those traits, back and forth, bringing forth over time, stable reliable traits we think of as personality.
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| ASMR |
- Autonomous – spontaneous, self-governing, with or without control
- Sensory – about the senses or sensation
- Meridian – signifying a peak, climax, or point of highest development
- Response – referring to an experience triggered by something external or internal
Variance
Though little scientific research has been conducted into potential neurobiological correlates to the perceptual phenomenon, with a consequent dearth of data with which to explain its physical nature, personal commentary from forums, blogs, and video comments have been analyzed to describe the phenomenon.
The other category can intentionally augment the sensation and feelings through attentional control, without dependence upon external stimuli, or 'triggers', in a manner compared by some subjects to their experience of meditation.
Whispering
Psychologists Nick Davis and Emma Barratt discovered that whispering was an effective trigger for 75% of the 475 subjects who took part in an experiment to investigate the nature of ASMR; this statistic is reflected in the popularity of intentional ASMR videos that comprise someone speaking in a whispered voice.
Auditory
Many of those who experience ASMR report that non-vocal ambient noises performed through human activities are also effective triggers of ASMR. Examples of such noises include fingers scratching or tapping a surface, brushing hair, hands rubbing together or manipulating fabric, the crushing of eggshells, the crinkling and crumpling of a flexible material such as paper, or writing.
Personal attention role play
In addition to the effectiveness of specific auditory stimuli, many subjects report that ASMR is triggered by the receipt of tender personal attention, often comprising combined physical touch and vocal expression, such as when having their hair cut, nails painted, ears cleaned, or back massaged, while the service provider speaks quietly to the recipient.
Psychologists Nick Davis and Emma Barratt discovered that personal attention was an effective trigger for 69% of the 475 subjects who participated in a study conducted at Swansea University, second in popularity only to whispering
Clinical role play
Among the category of intentional ASMR videos that simulate the provision of personal attention is a subcategory wherein the "ASMRtist" is specifically depicted providing clinical or medical services, including routine general medical examinations. The creators of these videos make no claims to the reality of what is depicted, and the viewer is intended to be aware that they are watching and listening to a simulation, performed by an artist.