Neuroscience vs. Public Misconception of ASMR

An objective analysis of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)

12 min readOct 12, 2019

What is ASMR?

Over the past decade, an online video-based community has grown around a reported phenomenological experience, ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). The experience is reported to be a tingling sensation that may occur on the scalp, the nape of the neck, spine, and down the backs of the limbs. The tingling sensation is reported to be accompanied by a calm and relaxed emotional state after ASMR videos have triggered the tingling sensation.

(At this point, it is easy to understand why ASMR may be viewed by the general public as a strange millennial fad or as a sexual fetish. However, neither of these positions is empirically supported.)

With the advent of social media and video sharing platforms such as YouTube, ASMR videos have been crafted specifically to trigger this reported sensory phenomenon in individuals who experience it. This sensory phenomenon is not universal. A small but significant subset of the population seems to have gathered around this reported experience enough to warrant scientific investigation.

Example: a person with ASMR would watch a video like below and experience tingles in the aforementioned areas which would be followed by a mildly euphoric state of relaxation and calmness.

Headphones recommended

Video by ASMR Bakery

Common Triggers of ASMR

Triggers within the ASMR community are close to universal, although the reported intensity of tingles and trigger preferences vary between AMSR+ to ASMR+ individual, for the most part, ASMR+ individuals share in a great majority of triggers. Of these widely consistent triggers (list to follow), ASMR triggers are primarily categorized into two major subgenres, Talking and No Talking (the above is an example of No Talking).

Talking based triggers:

Whispering into a mic (audible)
Whispering into a mic (inaudible)
Gently spoken Positive affirmations
Gently spoken Pacifying talk
Virtual personal attention and affection

No Talking based triggers:

Nail tapping
Mic scratching/tapping/brushing etc.
Hand movements
Performing intricate and detailed actions

These triggers are incorporated into videos, sometimes considered carefully crafted pieces of “art” — hence the term “ASMRtist” — to specifically trigger ASMR either hedonistically and/or therapeutically.

I’ll explain why, but first, there are some key neurological terms and concepts we are going to need to know.

Some Neuroscience Simplified

The Brain is composed of five major networks, we will only need to focus on the most widely researched brain network known as the DMN.

DMN (Default Mode Network): is a set of functionally connected regions within the brain. The DMN is preferentially active while the brain is at a resting state. You can think of the DMN, or Default Mode, or Default Network as the part of the brain that stays active while the rest of the brain is idling, but not sleeping. The DMN is most active during a wakefully relaxed state.

Diagram 1

Diagram 1: The DMN is composed of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Posterior Cinglaute Gyrus, Bilateral Inferior Parietal Cortices, Medial Temporal Gyri, and Precuneus. These parts of the brain function together to perform various tasks such as daydreaming, and mind wondering.

Diagram 2

Diagram 2: Is a real fMRI of the DMN of an ASMR positive individual.

So far so good. The next thing we need to know is how the DMN works.

The DMN (as you can see) is made of little “islands” or brain regions. You might be wondering how do they communicate without being physically connected while active?

The answer is Functional Connectivity.

Functional Connectivity is operationally defined as the temporal correlation between the time series of different brain regions. (A more general definition of functional connectivity is the presence of statistical dependencies between two sets of neurophysiological data.) (encyclopedia of neuroscience)

Think of functional connectivity as texting a friend rather than driving across town to deliver the same communication. That is the isolated regions behave as if they were structurally connected, but the key point is, there is no active structural connection between those regions as you can see in diagram 2. Although there are white matter neuronal highways, known as Structural connectivity, functional connectivity is distinctly different. That is Functional connectivity is a “higher-order” form of communication within the brain when compared to the structural neuronal highways, of Structural Connectivity (mutatis mutandis).

How do neuroscientists measure Functional Connectivity?

The fMRI captures a measurement called the voxel.

The voxel is just a fancy way of saying a three-dimensional space filled with approximately 630,000 neurons.

Diagram 3

A Voxel that is 1 millimeter cubed has about 630,000 neurons in it

Diagram 3: Shows that the fMRI is measuring a high order pattern of communication constituted by the lower neuronal highways of structural connectivity.

Neuroscience applied to ASMR

“fMRIs found that individuals who self-identified as ASMR positive had significant differences in the DMN (Default Mode Network) of those who identified as ASMR negative.” (Smith et al, 2017)

How significant?

In the examination of the DMN, the functional connectivity of two brain structures differed between ASMR and control participants. Control participants showed greater connectivity than ASMR participants in the left precuneus, one of the key nodes of the DMN. This cluster was relatively large, encompassing 7379 voxels. In contrast, the DMN of individuals with ASMR appeared to recruit a smaller (1834 voxel) cluster in the cuneus, a visual region that is adjacent to the precuneus component of the DMN (Smith et al, 2019).

Rember one voxel has about 630,000 neurons… 7,379 voxels compared to 1,834 voxels… we don’t even need to do the math to understand this is a significant difference.

“Together, these results highlight the fact that ASMR videos elicit activity in brain areas related to sensation, emotion, and attention in individuals with ASMR, but not in matched control participants.” (Smith et al, 2019)

ASMR is Empirical Supported

fMRI research has identified ASMR as an empirically unique and measurable phenomenon consistent in individuals who self-identified as ASMR positive against control individuals who self-identified as ASMR negative.

General Discussion & Conclusion

We have dispelled the notion that ASMR is “just” a millennial fad when in reality it is lower functional connectivity within the DMN. Now we are equipped to continue the line of discussion of whether or not ASMR is a sexual fetish.

There can be no doubt that there is content using ASMR triggers specifically to be sexually arousing but this does not necessarily mean the whole of ASMR is sexual at its base.

In fact, a great majority of ASMR+ individuals report ASMR as being separate from sexual arousal (Davis et al, 2015) and further research supports these claims by the simple fact that heart rate decrease while ASMR+ individuals watch ASMR (Poerio et al, 2018) — the opposite occurs in sexual arousal. No fancy fMRI needed.

Although, no direct study has been performed to indicate that ASMR is strictly non-sexual at its base. It suffices to say we do not know yet, but we have evidence supporting ASMR as non-sexual.

Crudely put, a study could have ASMR+ individuals watch pornography vs. ASMR videos vs. control videos and see if the same parts of the brain light up.

Regardless, even if ASMR was sexual at its base this would simply mean there is a subset of the population that can experience a second-type of “orgasm.” This viewed in positive light opens healthy sexual possibilities for couples and partners that are ASMR+.

In conclusion, to stigmatize an empirical observation because it may be partially sexual in nature is ignorant.

But if this is the case, the public would be justified in wanting overtly sexualized ASMR content classified as mature content and pushed away from such publicly open domains like YouTube.com to more, let us say, sotto voce platforms.

However, science backs ASMR as being far less sexual and far more social at its base. Some scientists think ASMR may be the ability to trigger primal grooming oxytocin release via triggering ASMR (Lochte et al, 2018).

Technically speaking ASMR already has everything it needs to be considered a condition via lower functional connectivity and observable atypical behavior. So the next natural question is what are ASMR’s symptoms?

Other than the positive reported effects of ASMR, we don’t know.

Bottom line: is ASMR a condition and are ASMRists creating therapeutic content?

“Individuals with ASMR demonstrated significantly higher scores on Openness-to-Experience and Neuroticism, and significantly lower levels of Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness compared to matched controls […] indicating lower levels of emotional stability (Fredborg et al, 2017).”

So, with the atypical functional connectivity and atypical behavior, we also have a personality test indicating ASMR+ individuals have traits associated with lower levels of emotional stability — furthermore, ASMR videos are already in use by-and-large to combat negative conditions of emotional instability. Such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia (Davis, et al, 2015).

If this does not mark ASMR as a possible condition itself, at the very least it indicates that ASMR may be involved in these conditions. Again, ASMR videos are reported to have positive effects on insomnia, anxiety, and stress already showing its potential for clinical therapeutic uses.

The broadest explanation of our results and for most ASMR triggers is that they are related to affiliative behaviors. Affiliative behaviors are the caring behaviors which occur between parents and children, romantic partners, and friends. These behaviors involve close interpersonal bonds and can include grooming behaviors along with a wider array of care-giving and care-receiving behaviors. The attention-receiving or observation-granting behaviors in many ASMR videos have similarities to being cared for or to looking after someone .
The benefits of healthy relationships and affiliative behaviors have been well documented and specifically attributed to the neurochemicals released during interpersonal bonding. These positive social interactions occur during infancy, youth, adulthood, and elderhood and have been shown to increase oxytocin, decrease stress hormones, and decrease anxiety-like responses and behaviors (Lochte, et al, 2018).

The above study’s results showed that ASMR is strongly correlated with affiliative behaviors suggesting that ASMR may also increase oxytocin, decrease stress, and decrease anxiety in ASMR positive individuals. Thus ASMR content creators, ASMRtists, have evidence backing them as creating actual therapeutic material for people with a real condition.

In conclusion, ASMR, from the looks of it, is a condition and ASMRtitsts are creating therapeutic material. However, I am not a doctor of any kind.

So, I went to the DSM-V’s (the psychiatrist’s bible) Definition of Mental/Psychiatric Disorder:

“Features

(A.) a behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual
(B.) the consequences of which are clinically significant distress (e.g., a painful symptom) or disability (i.e., impairment in one or more important areas of functioning)
(C.) must not be merely an expectable response to common stressors and losses (for example, the loss of a loved one) or a culturally sanctioned response to a particular event (for example, trance states in religious rituals)
(D.) that reflects an underlying psychobiological dysfunction
(E.) that is not solely a result of social deviance or conflicts with society
(F.) that has diagnostic validity using one or more sets of diagnostic validators (e.g., prognostic significance, psychobiological disruption, response to treatment)
(G.) that has clinical utility (for example, contributes to better conceptualization of diagnoses, or to better assessment and treatment)

Other Considerations

(H.) no definition perfectly specifies precise boundaries for the concept of either “medical disorder” or “mental/psychiatric disorder”
(I.) diagnostic validators and clinical utility should help differentiate a disorder from diagnostic “nearest neighbors”
(J.) when considering whether to add a psychiatric condition to the nomenclature, or delete a psychiatric condition from the nomenclature, potential benefits (for example, provide better patient care, stimulate new research) should outweigh potential harms (for example, hurt particular individuals, be subject to misuse)(Stien DJ, et al, 2010)”

After weighing ASMR’s current findings against the DSM-V’s mental disorder parameters I’d say ASMR is hitting many of the marks. Also, in light of the fact that no clinical case studies have been performed on ASMR+ individuals using ASMR as a primary therapeutic tool, we don’t know if some people have severe ASMR and not some other misdiagnosed disorder because “ASMR the disorder” has yet to be established and put on a spectrum.

In other words, we have found something directly associated with neuroticism with lower functional connectivity in the DMN, as well as, ASMR is already being implemented in self-treatment of other established conditions (anxiety and depression). Yet, not one study on ASMR has been conducted in the USA to date, but an ASMR Superbowl beer commercial has — cool priorities America.

What if ASMR content is beneficial to other disorders that share ASMR+ individual’s atypical functional connectivity in the DMN, such as autism, schizophrenia, bipolar, dementia, and Alzheimer’s, furthermore, what if some of the people with these conditions and disorders are ASMR+ as well?

(Might seem far fetched, but so did ASMR, now it’s empirical.)

Even if ASMR content only minutely helps the above-mentioned conditions/ illnesses it would mean ASMR is a relatively free and highly accessible source of therapeutic relief to these conditions and therefore has extreme potential.

Supplement ASMR content to medication and other treatment methods and ASMR would be more than a minute find — it could possibly be the birth of several new branches in psychology, psychiatry, and the neurosciences. Meaning degrees, more jobs, and better health care.

Also, it might open a well-paid avenue for ASMRtist to become certified and hired as private contractors for psychologists, psychiatrists, etc. to supply them with the material necessary to practice this theoretical young field — that is if the ASMRtist don’t become the leading professionals themselves.

Besides the existential and humanitarian value of researching ASMR, there is also the possibility of it leading to some very lucrative discoveries for our economy and when compared to the minimal overhead risk of ASMR research already pointing to clinical uses for ASMR, it’s a no brainer.

Bottom dollar, America, we should be researching ASMR.

Just for the kicks and tingles of it

We might be looking at ASMR wrong altogether. With the advent of a society that is rapidly approaching true virtual integration and steadily increasing automation; in a world tech and task-oriented, the old ways of social communion are rapidly approaching obsoleteness and new ones are rising.

In this world, it is not uncommon for physical social interactions to no longer occur at previous frequencies. Effectively decreasing the number of intimate situations the individual is exposed to, yet the body has evolved to need and seek these intimate situations because of the positive affects and effects they engender.

What if ASMR was not a condition but a mutation. A mutation within the DMN that allows individuals to experience the same biological positive affects/effects of intimate social bonding without it having to be intimate or physical, from anywhere anytime.

Where ASMR is concerned, we may not be seeing the rise of a condition, but, instead, what we are seeing is fitness being naturally selected by the new technological age. That is, ASMR positive individuals are more fit for the coming virtual meta. Thus, ASMR positive individuals may very well be the bearers of the next naturally selected genetic mutation of the human race.

I digress.

Takeaway

ASMR is empirical observed as a unique lower functional connectivity pattern in the DMN associated with neuroticism and lower emotional stability.
ASMR content is strongly supported to have positive therapeutic effects.
ASMR may have broad-reaching applications in clinical settings.
ASMR is strongly supported to be non-sexual in nature.

Resources

Andrew Jahn, Ph.D

CONN lectures

www.youtube.com

ASMR Bakery