ASMR

How it works

Common triggers are whispering, tapping on wood or glass, crinkling paper, brushing sounds, slow hand movements, and someone paying close, gentle attention, such as at a haircut or an eye test¹. The response is a tingle on the scalp that spreads down the neck and back, sometimes into the arms. It comes with a feeling of calm and sleepiness¹. This makes it different from frisson, which is a fast chill with excitement.

Brain imaging shows that regions involved in reward, emotional arousal, and social bonding are active during ASMR¹². Some of these regions are also active in primates during grooming. One hypothesis is that ASMR is the human version of the calm response to being groomed by a trusted companion¹. This is not proved. A 2018 study found that heart rate falls during ASMR videos in people who feel the response, which fits the calming effect¹.

The number of people who feel it is unclear. Estimates run from 20% to 70%¹. Many people feel nothing at all. Most who do feel it remember it from childhood, long before they had a name for it¹.

History and culture

The name was coined in 2010 by Jennifer Allen on a health forum, to replace vaguer names like “brain tingles”¹. It is not a medical term. Research began a few years later. Today ASMR is a major video genre with channels that have millions of subscribers, and r/asmr is one of the larger communities on Reddit³. Anyone can test their own response by watching a trigger video with headphones.