RESEARCH STARTER

Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a sensory phenomenon characterized by a tingling sensation that typically begins on the scalp and moves down the neck and upper spine. This sensation is often described as pleasurable and relaxing, with individuals reporting feelings of euphoria and calmness when experiencing ASMR. Common triggers for ASMR include specific auditory and visual stimuli, such as whispers, soft sounds, and slow movements. The experience of ASMR has drawn comparisons to synesthesia, as both involve unique sensory responses to particular stimuli.

The term ASMR was coined in 2010 by Jennifer Allen, who sought to define a sensation that many individuals had discussed in online forums since around 2007. Over time, ASMR has gained significant popularity on platforms like YouTube, where creators produce content designed to elicit these pleasurable sensations. Recent research suggests that ASMR may have therapeutic benefits, particularly for those dealing with anxiety, depression, and sleep issues. Studies have shown that engaging with ASMR content can positively affect mood, although the benefits are typically temporary. As interest in ASMR continues to grow, scientists are increasingly exploring its underlying mechanisms and potential health impacts.

Full Article

Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a physical experience that involves feeling a tingling sensation on the skin that moves from the scalp down to the neck and upper spine. This tingling sensation is normally experienced as a pleasant feeling. It is most often triggered by visual or auditory stimuli. Those who experience it have reported feelings of relaxation and euphoria. ASMR is often referred to as a sensory phenomenon much like synesthesia (although it is a distinct phenomenon), which involves involuntary sensory or cognitive reactions to specific stimuli. In some cases, ASMR co-occurs with synesthesia. Some common triggers of ASMR include whispers, crisp sounds, slow movements, and attention control. Researchers are evaluating if ASMR holds potential therapeutic benefits for individuals with depression, anxiety, and chronic pain.

Background

Background

Before it was given a widely adopted name, ASMR was being discussed on online discussion boards as early as 2007. The term autonomous sensory meridian response was coined in 2010 by a New Yorker named Jennifer Allen. Allen found herself experiencing a very specific physical response to certain audio and visual cues. She described feeling a tingling sensation when she heard certain sounds or visualized certain images. She searched the internet for information about what she was feeling but could not find anything. Allen spent a decade trying to understand the sensations she experienced until she eventually stumbled upon an internet forum thread titled “Weird sensation feels good” on a website called Steady Health. The thread contained posts from multiple people describing the same experience. One poster discussed feeling a sensation akin to fingers crawling up their back that was triggered by random events such as being read a story.

Allen began participating in the thread and eventually organized a Facebook group to discuss the phenomenon. She then decided to come up with a term the group could use to refer to the experience. Allen decided to create a clinical-sounding term free of personal meaning and settled on autonomous sensory meridian response, ASMR for short. The term quickly caught on with the online community and the news media as the trend grew larger.

In the years that followed, ASMR grew into an internet sensation. Thousands of websites and blogs dedicated to ASMR content sprang up. The phenomenon also inspired millions of YouTube videos, in which vloggers posted videos of various audio and visual stimuli. This growth in popularity caught the attention of the academic community, and soon scientists began to study the phenomenon. Psychologists, biologists, and neuroscientists grew more and more curious about how ASMR affected the brain. Though research into ASMR only produced a few peer-reviewed papers throughout the 2010s, continued interest in the phenomenon is inspiring more researchers to examine its effects. A 2015 peer-reviewed paper called for an examination of ASMR as it related to symptoms of depression and chronic pain. A number of people who engaged in ASMR have reported that the phenomenon helps them with sleep issues as well as anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.

Overview

ASMR causes a person to feel a tingling sensation in their head and neck, with this feeling sometimes extending down through their arms and legs. The sensation is described as relaxing and pleasurable for most people who experience it, with some people referring to ASMR sensations as “brain orgasms.” The tingling sensation is comparable to getting the “chills,” a response that often happens when a person hears a moving piece of music. However, the difference between ASMR tingling and the chills is that chills occur throughout the whole body, whereas ASMR is mainly restricted to the head and neck and possibly the limbs. ASMR is also known to occur in waves rather than as a continuous sensation.

ASMR has several specific triggers that can include sounds, smells, sights, and textures. Each person responds to different triggers, but many of these triggers share common characteristics. Many common triggers involve quiet, recurring movements or sounds. Signal-processing research suggests that cyclic acoustic patterns and predictable sound structures play a significant role in triggering ASMR responses, indicating that the acoustic properties of stimuli may be enhanced when combined with visual characteristics in producing ASMR sensations. Some examples of common ASMR triggers include:

  • Falling rain
  • Whispering voices
  • Brushing hair
  • Folding towels
  • Light tapping noises
  • Slow movements of the hands
  • Flipping pages of books or magazines
  • Crisp sounds, like crunchy candy wrappers or biting into a pickle

People have also described feeling this sensation when undergoing certain activities that require attention to their bodies, such as receiving a medical exam or getting a haircut.

Researchers have begun examining the therapeutic potential ASMR may afford individuals who intentionally engage with ASMR content. ASMR users have reported feeling relaxed after watching or listening to ASMR content. Many have also reported that ASMR helps them sleep. One study found that the majority of ASMR users liked to watch videos of ASMR triggers before going to bed because it helped them fall asleep. This study also examined how ASMR affects a person’s mood. Studies have also begun exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate ASMR-style audio and video content, indicating a growing interest in computational approaches to understanding and replicating ASMR triggers. Another survey found that a number of people who routinely sought ASMR did so because it helped them with symptoms of depression. However, this reduced depressive feeling was temporary, lasting a few hours after the tingling sensation began. Some scientists suggest ASMR has the potential to treat other health issues such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, and panic disorders.

A 2018 study examined people’s brain activity while watching ASMR videos inside an MRI scanner. This was the first study to use brain imaging to examine ASMR effects. The study found that the regions of the brain most active when people were experiencing ASMR tingling sensations were the nucleus accumbens, medial prefrontal cortex, insula, and secondary somatosensory cortex. These same regions were also highly active during experiences of social bonding and music-induced chills. Research has provided physiological evidence that ASMR may activate the parasympathetic nervous system, suggesting that the relaxation associated with ASMR is linked to measurable autonomic responses rather than solely subjective experience.


Bibliography

Barratt, Emma L., and Nick J. Davis. “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR): A Flow-Like Mental State.” PeerJ, vol. 3, 2015, p. e851, doi:10.7717/peerj.851. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Cline, John. “What Is ASMR?” Psychology Today, 2026, www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/asmr. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Etchells, Pete. “ASMR and ‘Head Orgasms’: What’s the Science behind It?” The Guardian, 8 Jan. 2016, www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2016/jan/08/asmr-and-head-orgasms-whats-the-science-behind-it. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Fang, Zexin, et al. “How Cyclic Acoustic Patterns Influence ASMR Perception: A Signal Processing Perspective.” arXiv, Cornell University, 22 Apr. 2025, arxiv.org/abs/2504.00621. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Hozaki, Daigo, et al. “More Relaxing than Nature? The Impact of ASMR Content on Psychological and Physiological Measures of Parasympathetic Activity.” Neuroscience of Consciousness, vol. 2025, no. 1, 2025, niaf012, doi: 10.1093/nc/niaf012. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Kirkland, Justin. “ASMR Is about to Have a Huge Super Bowl Moment. Here’s What You Should Know.” Esquire, 3 Feb. 2019, www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a26081634/what-is-asmr-autonomous-sensory-meridian-response/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Lochte, Bryson C., et al. “An FMRI Investigation of the Neural Correlates Underlying the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR).” BioImpacts, vol. 8, no. 4, 2018, pp. 295–304.

Mann, Denise. “What Is ASMR and Why Are Millions of People Talking about It?” Readers Digest, 11 Oct. 2019, www.rd.com/health/wellness/asmr/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Poeiro, Giulia Lara, et al. “More Than a Feeling: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) Is Characterized by Reliable Changes in Affect and Physiology.” PLOS ONE, vol. 13, no. 6, 2018, p. e0196645, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0196645. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Richard, Craig. “How Much Research Has Been Done on ASMR?” ASMR University, 29 Jan. 2025, asmruniversity.com/2024/08/30/how-much-research-has-been-done-on-asmr/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

“What Is ASMR?” ASMR University, 2014, asmruniversity.com/about-asmr/what-is-asmr/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Zhang, Leying, et al. “DeepASMR: LLM-Based Zero-Shot ASMR Speech Generation for Anyone of Any Voice.” arXiv, Cornell University, 22 Jan. 2026, arxiv.org/abs/2601.15596. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Full Article

Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a physical experience that involves feeling a tingling sensation on the skin that moves from the scalp down to the neck and upper spine. This tingling sensation is normally experienced as a pleasant feeling. It is most often triggered by visual or auditory stimuli. Those who experience it have reported feelings of relaxation and euphoria. ASMR is often referred to as a sensory phenomenon much like synesthesia (although it is a distinct phenomenon), which involves involuntary sensory or cognitive reactions to specific stimuli. In some cases, ASMR co-occurs with synesthesia. Some common triggers of ASMR include whispers, crisp sounds, slow movements, and attention control. Researchers are evaluating if ASMR holds potential therapeutic benefits for individuals with depression, anxiety, and chronic pain.

Background

Background

Before it was given a widely adopted name, ASMR was being discussed on online discussion boards as early as 2007. The term autonomous sensory meridian response was coined in 2010 by a New Yorker named Jennifer Allen. Allen found herself experiencing a very specific physical response to certain audio and visual cues. She described feeling a tingling sensation when she heard certain sounds or visualized certain images. She searched the internet for information about what she was feeling but could not find anything. Allen spent a decade trying to understand the sensations she experienced until she eventually stumbled upon an internet forum thread titled “Weird sensation feels good” on a website called Steady Health. The thread contained posts from multiple people describing the same experience. One poster discussed feeling a sensation akin to fingers crawling up their back that was triggered by random events such as being read a story.

Allen began participating in the thread and eventually organized a Facebook group to discuss the phenomenon. She then decided to come up with a term the group could use to refer to the experience. Allen decided to create a clinical-sounding term free of personal meaning and settled on autonomous sensory meridian response, ASMR for short. The term quickly caught on with the online community and the news media as the trend grew larger.

In the years that followed, ASMR grew into an internet sensation. Thousands of websites and blogs dedicated to ASMR content sprang up. The phenomenon also inspired millions of YouTube videos, in which vloggers posted videos of various audio and visual stimuli. This growth in popularity caught the attention of the academic community, and soon scientists began to study the phenomenon. Psychologists, biologists, and neuroscientists grew more and more curious about how ASMR affected the brain. Though research into ASMR only produced a few peer-reviewed papers throughout the 2010s, continued interest in the phenomenon is inspiring more researchers to examine its effects. A 2015 peer-reviewed paper called for an examination of ASMR as it related to symptoms of depression and chronic pain. A number of people who engaged in ASMR have reported that the phenomenon helps them with sleep issues as well as anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.

Overview

ASMR causes a person to feel a tingling sensation in their head and neck, with this feeling sometimes extending down through their arms and legs. The sensation is described as relaxing and pleasurable for most people who experience it, with some people referring to ASMR sensations as “brain orgasms.” The tingling sensation is comparable to getting the “chills,” a response that often happens when a person hears a moving piece of music. However, the difference between ASMR tingling and the chills is that chills occur throughout the whole body, whereas ASMR is mainly restricted to the head and neck and possibly the limbs. ASMR is also known to occur in waves rather than as a continuous sensation.

ASMR has several specific triggers that can include sounds, smells, sights, and textures. Each person responds to different triggers, but many of these triggers share common characteristics. Many common triggers involve quiet, recurring movements or sounds. Signal-processing research suggests that cyclic acoustic patterns and predictable sound structures play a significant role in triggering ASMR responses, indicating that the acoustic properties of stimuli may be enhanced when combined with visual characteristics in producing ASMR sensations. Some examples of common ASMR triggers include:

  • Falling rain
  • Whispering voices
  • Brushing hair
  • Folding towels
  • Light tapping noises
  • Slow movements of the hands
  • Flipping pages of books or magazines
  • Crisp sounds, like crunchy candy wrappers or biting into a pickle

People have also described feeling this sensation when undergoing certain activities that require attention to their bodies, such as receiving a medical exam or getting a haircut.

Researchers have begun examining the therapeutic potential ASMR may afford individuals who intentionally engage with ASMR content. ASMR users have reported feeling relaxed after watching or listening to ASMR content. Many have also reported that ASMR helps them sleep. One study found that the majority of ASMR users liked to watch videos of ASMR triggers before going to bed because it helped them fall asleep. This study also examined how ASMR affects a person’s mood. Studies have also begun exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate ASMR-style audio and video content, indicating a growing interest in computational approaches to understanding and replicating ASMR triggers. Another survey found that a number of people who routinely sought ASMR did so because it helped them with symptoms of depression. However, this reduced depressive feeling was temporary, lasting a few hours after the tingling sensation began. Some scientists suggest ASMR has the potential to treat other health issues such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, and panic disorders.

A 2018 study examined people’s brain activity while watching ASMR videos inside an MRI scanner. This was the first study to use brain imaging to examine ASMR effects. The study found that the regions of the brain most active when people were experiencing ASMR tingling sensations were the nucleus accumbens, medial prefrontal cortex, insula, and secondary somatosensory cortex. These same regions were also highly active during experiences of social bonding and music-induced chills. Research has provided physiological evidence that ASMR may activate the parasympathetic nervous system, suggesting that the relaxation associated with ASMR is linked to measurable autonomic responses rather than solely subjective experience.


Bibliography

Barratt, Emma L., and Nick J. Davis. “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR): A Flow-Like Mental State.” PeerJ, vol. 3, 2015, p. e851, doi:10.7717/peerj.851. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Cline, John. “What Is ASMR?” Psychology Today, 2026, www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/asmr. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Etchells, Pete. “ASMR and ‘Head Orgasms’: What’s the Science behind It?” The Guardian, 8 Jan. 2016, www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2016/jan/08/asmr-and-head-orgasms-whats-the-science-behind-it. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Fang, Zexin, et al. “How Cyclic Acoustic Patterns Influence ASMR Perception: A Signal Processing Perspective.” arXiv, Cornell University, 22 Apr. 2025, arxiv.org/abs/2504.00621. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Hozaki, Daigo, et al. “More Relaxing than Nature? The Impact of ASMR Content on Psychological and Physiological Measures of Parasympathetic Activity.” Neuroscience of Consciousness, vol. 2025, no. 1, 2025, niaf012, doi: 10.1093/nc/niaf012. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Kirkland, Justin. “ASMR Is about to Have a Huge Super Bowl Moment. Here’s What You Should Know.” Esquire, 3 Feb. 2019, www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a26081634/what-is-asmr-autonomous-sensory-meridian-response/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Lochte, Bryson C., et al. “An FMRI Investigation of the Neural Correlates Underlying the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR).” BioImpacts, vol. 8, no. 4, 2018, pp. 295–304.

Mann, Denise. “What Is ASMR and Why Are Millions of People Talking about It?” Readers Digest, 11 Oct. 2019, www.rd.com/health/wellness/asmr/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Poeiro, Giulia Lara, et al. “More Than a Feeling: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) Is Characterized by Reliable Changes in Affect and Physiology.” PLOS ONE, vol. 13, no. 6, 2018, p. e0196645, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0196645. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Richard, Craig. “How Much Research Has Been Done on ASMR?” ASMR University, 29 Jan. 2025, asmruniversity.com/2024/08/30/how-much-research-has-been-done-on-asmr/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

“What Is ASMR?” ASMR University, 2014, asmruniversity.com/about-asmr/what-is-asmr/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.

Zhang, Leying, et al. “DeepASMR: LLM-Based Zero-Shot ASMR Speech Generation for Anyone of Any Voice.” arXiv, Cornell University, 22 Jan. 2026, arxiv.org/abs/2601.15596. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.