Have you ever felt a specific sound, action, or a sight send back tingles to your brain?
A tingly sense of calm and contentment on seeing or hearing something is what we term ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response).
You would’ve come across tons of videos on YouTube that are captioned, “Oddly Satisfying.” These videos are created by ASMRist to evoke this tingly sensation in the crown of your head to make you feel relaxed.
These videos can vary from anything like people neatly folding their clothes, whispering sounds to tapping sounds.
What is the scientific definition of ASMR?
ASMR is a complex emotional state that some people experience when they come across a specific audio-visual content that triggers a tingling sensation in their head.
These ASMR triggers are according to people’s tastes and are said to emerge in childhood.
ASMR is a relatively new concept that was first identified in the year 2007. Since then, it has become dramatically popular.
Today we have various artists come up with ASMR tracks to help other people experience brain tingles. These tracks and videos on YouTube have millions of views!
Why do people like/enjoy ASMR so much?
ASMR sends a chilling sensation from the head down your spine. This sensation induces a feeling of calm and connectedness and relaxes the human soul.
A study was conducted to understand what went inside the human brain while experiencing such tingles.
This research involved 10 participants who watched these ASMR videos in an fMRI machine. The results of this study showed that during the trigger sensation, there was an increased level of activation in some parts of the brain.
These parts of the brain are associated with emotions and empathy. Thus, they energize a person experiencing the trigger and leaves them relaxed.
This is why people enjoy watching these videos.
Not just the tingly sensation in the brain, but people love the positive effects ASMR brings into their life. According to a survey, 98 percent of people watched the ASMR videos to relax, 82 percent used it to help them sleep, while 70 percent used it to cope with stress.
Not everyone experiences ASMR, and thus it remains a nice area that is still under preliminary research.
However, it is clear from the evidence that ASMR is helping people alleviate their low moods. Thus, people have now accepted the term ASMR, and we have observed an exponential growth in its popularity.
While there is a lot more to research, we can use ASMR as a therapeutic tool in the future that can help people experiencing severe depression or chronic pain.
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