All the ASMR Feels: My Life as a “Tingle Head”

I distinctly remember the day when it became evident to me that I was capable of experiencing euphoric sensations that resulted from observing and listening to certain sounds created by a person’s actions and/or their voice. I have spotty memories of experiencing these sensations in the years leading up to that day, but it was not until then it became undeniable that what was happening to me was not arbitrary and was not without explanation.

Photo by: The Sassy Stiletto

It was over 20 years ago; I was 19 years old, and I was sitting in the office of a psychologist I was treating with for the first time. And before I go any further, let’s just address the elephant in the room. Yes, I was receiving therapy. No, it wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last. I’m a firm believer that most of us need our heads shrunk now and again. But, that’s a topic for another story.

Her name was Dr. Valentine. She was by far the sweetest and kindest therapist to whom I had ever spoken. All niceties aside, about 10 or 15 minutes into our session, I began to feel IT. Physically, IT started with a light tingling sensation all over my scalp, moving down my face, spreading across my shoulders, and running across the top of my thighs. Mentally, or maybe emotionally depending on how you interpret the research, I began to feel so relaxed and content that it bordered on euphoria. I found myself hanging on her every word and wishing that our session would never end. I was paying very little attention to what she was saying, but more absorbing her sounds and her gestures. In the car ride home after my appointment, I was reflecting on what had just happened and how the experience was so familiar to me. And while I couldn’t put my finger on the frequency, nor did I have a strong recollection of where and how often all my experiences had occurred, I knew it happened several times in my life before that day. When questioned about it now, after having years to search the recesses of my mind and a fuller understanding of what is happening to me, I have a slightly stronger recollection of my early experiences with this phenomenon. Growing up in my grandmother’s house in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I would watch a lot of Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, and Reading Rainbow on a television station called PBS. Sometimes after the children’s programming had ended, there was a show that aired called, Sit and Be Fit. This was an exercise show for older adults who could only do slow, gentle movements as their workout routine, and it was hosted by a registered nurse named Mary Ann Wilson.

Mary Ann’s voice was intoxicating. It would stop me in my tracks. I would sit Indian-style in the middle of the carpet of my grandmother’s living room, look up at her big Zenith tube television, and become mesmerized. I was a grade-schooler; drunk off Mary Ann’s soft, angelic voice combined with the slow and simple rhythmic movements of the exercises. I also remember having these reactions during some school-administered health exams. At our elementary and junior high school, the local pediatrician and his nurse would be on-site to perform the examinations. The doctor would check my ears with the otoscope, and look in my eyes with a penlight. The nurse would have her clipboard, and I could hear the tapping of her pen hit the paper as she recorded my information. The doctor would speak quietly and calmly as he used his little mirror to view the back of my throat. Then I would be asked to take big, slow, deep breaths as he used a stethoscope to listen to my heart and your lungs. All the while, I was in a trance. The thing was, I didn’t experience this with every exam, every doctor, every tv show, or every therapist. It was certain people, with certain types of voices, making certain types of movements, doing certain types of things. But even when it became clear to me that getting these sensations was not an atypical occurrence for me, I had no explanation for what it was or why it was happening, and I wouldn’t for another 16 years. Leaving the therapist’s office in amazement that day back in 1998, we didn’t have Google or Youtube. We may have had some semblance of a search engine, but I can assure you, searching the web for information was not the same two decades ago. Besides, the circumstances during which I could have these experiences were not as abundant before the use of social media became commonplace. As a result, my brief slices of heaven were fewer and farther between. So, I didn’t even think to do research even when day-to-day internet use first became the norm. Then when I was 35, for some reason or another, I began thinking about my little “gift”. Now that researching via the internet was a daily activity, I decided to Google it. If I remember correctly, I typed in something like, “I get tingly when people talk”. I was astonished at the results of my search. Article after article filled my screen. They all described my feelings using a term called, “ASMR — Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response”. If you can imagine my amazement, and quite frankly, my sense of relief, as I read stories and descriptions that mirrored my own. Though one article, in particular, was a game-changer. It was written by a man who very effectively communicated how ASMR felt to him, what types of events “triggered” his ASMR, what made his ASMR diminish, and most importantly, he shared a few links to videos that he claimed upon watching, would give you “all the feels”. Wait! What!? There are videos that will trigger this blissful, unexplained experience that I’ve been having my entire life??? According to other ASMR-capable people on the internet, you simply plug your headphones into your phone or computer and listened to an ASMR video that appealed to the types of sounds and actions that triggered you. I never even considered what it would be like to have sounds playing right against my ears. I still remember the first video I watched. Queen of Serene: Role Play — Book Store Clerk. The Queen’s real name is Krista, and she has a slightly deeper, soothing voice. She speaks slowly and softly. In this particular video, she pretended as though she was reviewing books with a customer that she had handpicked before they arrived. Her voice, combined with turning pages, and gently tapping her nails on the covers, had me instantly captivated. This was Zen. I had found my tribe, and I was forever changed.

The more I read ASMR related articles and watched ASMR videos, the more I began to learn not only about ASMR but what specific circumstances invoked the strongest sensations in me.

In 2018, Dr. Craig Richard published a book called, Brain Tingles, in which he estimated that approximately 20% of the world’s population are strongly ASMR-capable. To further break apart this statistic, many folks in the ASMR community assert that some are born with the ability and those who have taught themselves to become ASMR-capable. (Then there’s the rest of you that believe we’re all full of shit!) I was also quick to learn that many ASMR videos are considered role-playing, during which the ASMR artist, as we’ll call them, would act out a specific task or technique, such as a haircut, or an eye exam. But if you’re not into the role play or even verbal triggers at all, some videos consist of only of sounds that are known favorites among certain “tingle heads”. Some examples are: scratching the microphones, playing with crystals, the fizz of a soda can, hair brushing, or the crunching of floam. When ASMR videos were in their infancy, around 2009 or 2010, the artists were role-playing, speaking, and/or making sounds by simply recording themselves on their phones or computers. Advanced recording tools were not yet being used. My first video by the Queen of Serene was exactly that. But after a few years, most artists began making binaural recordings to enhance the sound and experience. For those of you that are unfamiliar with what it is, a binaural recording is when sound is recorded using two microphones and is transmitted separately to the two ears with the intent of creating a 3-D stereo sound sensation for the listener. Believe me, when I say, it is INCREDIBLE!

As far as my preferences when it comes to ASMR, I never would have guessed how particular I could be until I became immersed in this community. While a study published in Peer J on March 2015 revealed that 75% of the tingle heads tested reported that whispering was their number one trigger, I couldn’t disagree more. I’ve found that it is the actual sound of someone’s voice that determines whether they activate my ASMR. I’ve also noticed that I’m drawn to the sound that someone’s mouth makes when they are speaking, such as the sound created by their lips, tongue, gums moving against each other, or even if they intentionally make those sounds in between speaking. A great example of an artist who does this when she speaks (and doesn’t whisper) is Fairy Char ASMR.

Regarding the non-verbal triggers that spark my ASMR, the sounds of nails tapping on a book or a table, or light typing is always nice to hear. The crinkling sounds of latex gloves (such as during a cranial nerve exam video), the swishing sound of clothing (such as when the artist is wearing a lab coat and is ambulating around the room), and the sound that measuring tapes being extended, opened, or closed (such as in a dress fitting video), give me crazy amounts of tingles! When it comes to video content, I’m almost always more drawn to role play videos that feature personal attention. A makeup tutorial, a facial, an eye exam, or a dress fitting. There’s something about the process and the calmness that appeals to me. A final note about my own experience… I’ve found that the mental, emotional, and physical results of watching ASMR videos can diminish or disappear when overdone. However, these results can be restored by taking a break, and returning when I have recharged my ASMR battery, so to speak. For me, if I would watch more than 2–3 times a week, I would notice that they began to have little effect on me. Therefore, I would simply take a break for a week or two, and my superpowers would be restored.

As with most of my stories, I like to include information based on some sort of scientific research. This piece is no different. Though this time around, my quest for information was much more personal. Why have I always experienced ASMR? What is going in my body at a biological and psychological level that’s not going on in the bodies of the remaining 80 percent of the world’s population?

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is defined as “a sensory phenomenon, in which individuals experience a tingling, static-like sensation across the scalp, back of the neck and at times further areas in response to specific triggering audio and visual stimuli. This sensation is widely reported to be accompanied by feelings of relaxation and well-being.”

A 2016 study published in the Social Neuroscience Journal and conducted by Dr. Stephen Smith, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Winnipeg, and his research assistant, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the variances in the functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) between ASMR-capable and ASMR-incapable participants. If you’re like me and did not know exactly what the DMN is, Dr. Smith describes it as “a lot of structures along the midline of the brain” and the parietal lobes that are situated above the ears, that usually act as a functional system.

The Default Mode Network (DMN) as seen via fMRI.

On a scanner, all the parts of this system light up together in the folks who do not experience ASMR. When viewing the scans of ASMR-capable participants, however, the structures were not consistently lighting up together. Even more interesting was that unrelated parts of the brain were seen lighting up instead. For instance, the occipital lobe which is responsible for vision, and the parietal lobe were firing simultaneously. These findings suggest that separate networks are blending within ASMR-capable brains rather than working distinctly from one another. The increase and the decrease in connectivity between specific brain structures indicated a “reduced attentional control and inhibition” in ASMR patient populations, that it “is possible that ASMR reflects a reduced ability to inhibit sensory-emotional experiences that are suppressed in most individuals”, and a similarity to the brain functioning of those who have the ability to experience synesthesia, which is a “blending of the senses”. For example, those people that smell or taste a color, or associate a taste with a certain smell or place… that’s synesthesia.

In 2017, Dr. Smith and his team performed another study to identify the personality traits identified with ASMR-capable people. In this study, they used 290 tingle heads and 290 control group members. The results showed that ASMR-capable participants scored higher in Openness-to-Experience and Neuroticism, and lower in Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Extraversion.

Finally, rather than comparing ASMR-capable and ASMR-incapable individuals, a 2017 study published in Bioimpacts investigated the activity happening in the brain during an actual ASMR experience. The research from this test concluded that “subjects who experienced ASMR showed significant activation in regions associated with both reward and emotional arousal”. Brain activation during ASMR was also found similar to the activity that occurs during affiliative behaviors. Affiliative behaviors are social interactions that function to reinforce social bonds with a group, or which are of mutual benefit to all people involved in the interaction. This study used the example of the primal act of grooming, as we’ve all seen monkeys do to one another.

I’m not sure what exactly to take away from these studies. As a person diagnosed with ADD and anxiety, I found it significant that the DMN activity in the brains of ASMR capable people was indicative of issues with attention control and neuroticism. I also know that my upbringing was oftentimes loud and chaotic, and I have never been able to consciously self-soothe with much success. Perhaps this is my body’s primal, unconscious way of seeking out a tranquil and calm state of well-being. While the research is interesting, at least to a science geek such as me, it still leaves a lot of questions and needs for further studies. Now that ASMR has become a pop-culture phenomenon, I expect that we will have more answers in the near future.