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- Today's Wednesday Checkup is gonna be all about ASMR.
(pen clicking)
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(Mike laughing)
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I only recently found out about ASMR a few years ago,
but if you don't know what ASMR is now?
Where have you been?
These videos are taking over YouTube,
there's this entire community of people
who love ASMR videos, get a great response from them,
and that's what we're are gonna talking about today.
For those of you who may not know about ASMR
who are a little confused by it,
let me explain it to you.
ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.
This is basically a tingling sensation
that you feel in your scalp
that moves its way down into the spine
when you hear certain noises that are called triggers,
lips smacking, chewing, a hair brush being played with,
and most commonly you'll find on YouTube, whispering.
From its inception ASMR had little bit of a weird reputation
because most the videos that were being created
were done by women who were showing a lot of skin
and being very sexy and sensual.
So most most people thought it had something to do
with that erotic aspect.
The new research is actually showing,
that's a small percentage of people,
who are actually invested and interested in ASMR.
Now, not all people will experience this ASMR sensation
or trigger, just because they hear those sounds.
This happens in a very specific subset of the population.
And of a lot the research that's been done to date
has been taking a look at what makes those people different
and to figure out what physiological responses
they get from feeling ASMR.
The concept itself has been around
for a really long period of time.
Even if you take a look back at Bob Ross, the painting guy,
he was practicing ASMR.
It just didn't have that name attached to it.
(brush thudding) - Let's have some fun.
You know if you paint with me before,
I like old big trees.
(brush scraping) But he's a nice tree.
- If earlier when I was making those little noises
into the microphone you started feeling a tingling sensation
in the back of your neck or your scalp
or pretty anywhere on your body, you're a tingle head.
The phenomenon you may be experiencing
is known as synesthesia,
where one sense automatically triggers another sense.
In one of its most common forms,
a person may see color attributed
to a specific letter in the alphabet.
And in fact people can see the entire alphabet
and attribute a different color to each letter.
It's a really interesting concept.
(fabric scraping)
(metal gently clangs)
(dog jowls slapping)
(dog panting)
ASMR Bear.
(microphone scratching) (tongue smacking)
- That really got out a hand fast.
- Why is it that a doctor is talking about ASMR?
I've been reading a lot of claims
that have peaked my curiosity of people saying
that ASMR boost their mental heath,
reduces their anxiety or depressive symptoms,
even helps them fall asleep
when they're suffering from insomnia.
So I decided to go take a look
and see what research is truly out there
and talk about it with you guys.
The initial research surrounding ASMR
really focused on defining that term
'cause it's really hard to study something,
unless you have consensus on what it is
that we're actually studying.
What this first peer-reviewed journal article
was able to tell us about the ASMR community
is that the main reason people listen to ASMR is to relax
and they do so most commonly before bedtime
with whispering being the most common trigger.
Now, there were a lot of details in this study,
but it truly serves as the foundation understanding
as to what ASMR is, why people enjoy it,
and where further research can be done.
The next peer-reviewed study came out
of the department of psychology
from the University of Winnipeg in Canada.
And this was really interesting
because they used a functional MRI machine,
which is essentially a normal MRI
but it takes a look at cerebral blood flow
to see what parts of the brain are being activated
when you hear certain things, when you feel certain things.
It's been really the foundation
of a lot of neuroscience research
because it allows us to understand how the brain works.
The goal of the researchers was to figure out
if there was difference in the brains
of those who experience ASMR from those who don't.
There was a difference,
both in increase connectivity between certain regions,
and decrease connectivity between certain other regions.
Now, this could've happened
between some confounding factors.
Maybe those who experience ASMR also share another trait
that those who don't experience ASMR have,
and that is a possibility
that the researchers did entertain.
Basically, the studies show that there are some differences
between those who are ASMR sensitive and those who are not.
But that difference is not so clear at the moment,
and further research is definitely warranted.
The most exciting research I've come across
happened just a few months ago
at the University of Sheffield,
where they looked at the physiological changes
that occurred from those who watched ASMR.
That's changes that happened inside your body.
So for example, they looked at your heart rate,
your skin conduction, which basically allows you to see how
you're emotionally reacting
to whatever it is you're watching.
What did they find?
Those who were ASMR sensitive had a decreased heart rate
while watching ASMR videos.
Now, that's really exciting
'cause this is the first ever documented case
where we see physiologic changes
occur as a result of ASMR viewership.
But it's also not incredibly surprising
because you're pre-selecting people who are ASMR sensitive,
essentially they enjoy ASMR, and you're comparing them
to a group a people who aren't ASMR sensitive.
Of course you're gonna have better results
for those who enjoy ASMR.
Think about, a similar comparison would be
if you love country music and you listen to country music,
it can lower you're resting heart rate.
If you hate country music and are forced to listen to it,
it may even raise your heart rate.
This research is very preliminary,
and it's sort of like a pilot study.
And now moving forward you can create better study designs
in order to to understand, does this happen for all people?
Is this happening as a result of a bias?
Or is this a true change
that can be used for a medical treatment?
'Cause ultimately that's what I'm most excited about.
Returning back to the health benefits
that have been tied to ASMR.
I tried to look at research for this,
and there are a lot of studies done
with anxiety and sleep tied to ASMR.
But a lot of them are just self-reported cases
where they give surveys to those who enjoy ASMR
and see what the results are.
Nothing really controlled or double-blinded.
Here's my final doctor recommendation on this.
If you're watching ASMR videos
and feel like they're giving you a benefit,
please keep enjoy them 'cause the risk
is pretty much negligible.
If you've never seen them before,
(laughs) definitely check them out
'cause it's worth for the curiosity alone.
And, look, it's totally within realm of possibility
that ASMR can help reduce some anxiety
or depressive symptoms or help you fall asleep faster.
But know it's not a cure all.
The last thing that I want is for you to try ASMR
and forgo your doctor's treatment orders,
and then have a negative health outcome.
Use this to supplement your doctor's advice.
And, even better, have a conversation with doctor
to see what he or she thinks about it.
If you want me to do a full ASMR video,
smash that like button.
We get 50,000 likes, I'm gonna make a medical ASMR video.
If you're curious about mental health,
Gabbie Hanna and I had a raw conversation
on the topic right here.
So click it, click it.
And stay happy and healthy, but click it.
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