There are 1000s of videos on YouTube of people whispering, eating, tapping on surfaces -- all
with the goal of giving you....BRAIN TINGLES.
Hey everyone, Laci Green here for DNews.
I have a weird confession for you.
Since I was a little kid, I've had this strong sensation from certain peoples' voices.
Most often the person is soft spoken, maybe a little breathy, and the way they pronounce
certain sounds like "k", "d", and "t" is sort of.......crisp sounding?
Bob Ross would be the most well known one.
I also have the reaction from sounds -- like when someone is rummaging through makeup or
crinkling plastic baggies.
These are some of MY triggers, but there are lots out there: the sound of someone writing,
polishing shoes, or brushing hair.
The sensation is incredibly challenging to describe -- like a tingling in my head and
scalp, but it's not a PHYSICAL tingling.
Some people call it a "braingasm".
The sounds can almost instantly make me relax and my mind zone out.
It's hypnotic and it's very euphoric -- but not in a sexual way.
It's not a fetish, and it's not erotic.
Common misunderstanding.
The pleasant tingling sensation has recently been widely referred to as "ASMR", or Autonomous
Sensory Meridian Response.
The subreddit for ASMR now boasts over 60,000 regular members who all experience the same
response.
Other internet groups before Reddit referred to it as "The Unnamed Sensation".
It's all veeeeery mysterious.
What's going on with this strange sensation?
Sadly, only ONE scientist has formally studied ASMR - at least as identified by that name.
Someone else may have studied it but the name of the phenomenon is unknown and therefore
unsearchable.
The scientist at Dartmouth who did study it looked at fMRI scans of people experiencing
an ASMR episode - which could be very telling about what's going on in the brain....buuuut
the publication of his results are still in process.
There have been many theories posed, however.
One comes from ethnobotanists -- that ASMR could be the conscious experience of serotonin
release.
From neurologists is the theory that ASMR is a type of muted seizure.
I didn't know this, but apparently seizures can be quite pleasurable and triggered by
simple sounds like this.
Another theory posed by Dr. Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale, is that these sounds
are activating a pleasure response, which is an evolutionary response that occurs when
we do things that increase our probability of survival.
Dr. Novella also theorized that it's possible that those with ASMR have a particular neural
hard wiring that amplifies the pleasure they get from things that are normally quietly
satisfying.
There's a lot we don't know, but what we do know is that this response is uncommon but
still widely experienced.
We also know that the response is not the same as tinglies you might get while listening
to music, which can cause physical effects like goosebumps.
Similarly, it's not the same effect as binaural sounds either.
So, do any of you experience ASMR?
If you don't, how much of a weirdo do I sound like right now? :P
Let me know down below and check out our new Testtube app so you can get updates on the
go.
Thanks for joining me, I'll cya next time.