Name[edit]

While many colloquial and formal terms used and proposed between 2007 and 2010 included
reference to orgasm, there was during that time a significant majority objection to its use among
those active in online discussions, many of whom have continued to persist in differentiating the
euphoric and relaxing nature of ASMR from sexual arousal.[10] However, the argument for sexual
arousal persists, and some proponents have published videos categorized as ASMRotica
(ASMR erotica), which are deliberately designed to be sexually stimulating.[11][12]

Early proponents of ASMR concluded that the phenomenon was generally unrelated to sexual
arousal. In 2010, Jennifer Allen, a participant in an online forum, proposed that the phenomenon
be named "autonomous sensory meridian response". Allen chose the words intending or assuming
them to have the following specific meanings:

Autonomous – spontaneous, self-governing, with or without control

Sensory – pertaining to the senses or sensation

Meridian – signifying a peak, climax, or point of highest development

Response – referring to an experience triggered by something external or internal

Allen verified in a 2016 interview that she purposely selected these terms because they were more
objective, comfortable, and clinical than alternative terms for the sensation.[13] In that interview,
Allen explained she selected the word meridian to replace the word orgasm and said she had
found a dictionary that defined meridian as "a point or period of highest development, greatest
prosperity, or the like".[13][14]

Sensation[edit]

Further information: Paresthesia

The subjective experience, sensation, and perceptual phenomenon of ASMR is described by some

of those susceptible to it as "akin to a mild electrical current...or the carbonated bubbles in a glass
of champagne".[8] The tingling sensation on the skin in general, called paresthesia, is referred to
by ASMR enthusiasts as "tingles" when experienced along the scalp, neck, and back.[15][16] It has
been described as "a static tingling sensation originating from the back of the head, then
propagating to the neck, shoulder, arm, spine, and legs, which makes people feel relaxed and
alert".[5]

Variance[edit]

Though little scientific research has been conducted into potential neurobiological correlates to
the perceptual phenomenon, with a consequent dearth of data with which to explain its physical
nature, personal commentary from forums, blogs, and video comments has been analysed to
describe the phenomenon. Analysis of this anecdotal evidence has supported the original
consensus that ASMR is euphoric but non-sexual in nature, and has divided those who experience
ASMR into two broad categories of subjects. One category depends upon external triggers to
experience the localized sensation and its associated feelings, which typically originates in the
head, often reaching down the neck and sometimes the upper back. The other category can
intentionally augment the sensation and feelings through attentional control, without dependence
upon external stimuli, or 'triggers', in a manner compared by some subjects to their experience
of meditation.[17][18]

Triggers[edit]

ASMR is usually precipitated by stimuli referred to as 'triggers'.[8] ASMR triggers, which are most

commonly auditory and visual, may be encountered through the interpersonal interactions of daily
life. Additionally, ASMR is often triggered by exposure to specific audio and video. Such media may
be specially made with the specific purpose of triggering ASMR or originally created for other
purposes and later discovered to be effective as a trigger of the experience.[1]

Stimuli that can trigger ASMR, as reported by those who experience it, include the following:

Listening to a softly spoken or whispering voice

Listening to quiet, repetitive sounds resulting from someone engaging in a mundane task such as
turning the pages of a book

Watching somebody attentively execute a mundane task such as preparing food

Loudly chewing, crunching, slurping or biting foods, drinks, or gum

Receiving personal attention

Initiating the stimulus through conscious manipulation without the need for external video or
audio triggers

Listening to tapping, typically nails onto surfaces such as plastic, wood, paper, metal, etc.

Hand movements, especially onto one's face

Listening to certain types of music

Listening to a person blow or exhale into a microphone

A 2017 study of 130 survey respondents found that lower-pitched, complex sounds, and slow-
paced, detail-focused videos are especially effective triggers.[19]

Whispering[edit]

Psychologists Nick Davis and Emma Barratt discovered that whispering was an effective trigger for
75% of the 475 subjects who took part in an experiment to investigate the nature of ASMR;[1] this
statistic is reflected in the popularity of intentional ASMR videos that comprise someone speaking
in a whispered voice.[20][21][22]

Auditory[edit]

Many of those who experience ASMR report that non-vocal ambient noises performed through
human action are also effective triggers of ASMR. Examples of such noises include fingers
scratching or tapping a surface, brushing hair, hands rubbing together or manipulating fabric, the
crushing of eggshells, the crinkling and crumpling of a flexible material such as paper, or writing.
Many YouTube videos that are intended to trigger ASMR responses feature a single person
performing these actions and the sounds that result.[23]

Personal attention role play[edit]

In addition to the effectiveness of specific auditory stimuli, many subjects report that ASMR is
triggered by the receipt of tender personal attention, often comprising combined physical touch
and vocal expression, such as when having their hair cut, nails painted, ears cleaned, or back
massaged, whilst the service provider speaks quietly to the recipient.

Furthermore, many of those who have experienced ASMR during these and other comparable
encounters with a service provider report that watching an "ASMRtist" simulate the provision of
such personal attention, acting directly to the camera as if the viewer were the recipient of a
simulated service, is sufficient to trigger it.[8][24]

Psychologists Nick Davis and Emma Barratt discovered that personal attention was an effective
trigger for 69% of the 475 subjects who participated in a study conducted at Swansea University,
second in popularity only to whispering.[1]

Clinical role play[edit]

Among the category of intentional ASMR videos that simulate the provision of personal attention
is a subcategory wherein the "ASMRtist" is specifically depicted providing clinical or medical
services, including routine general medical examinations. The creators of these videos make no
claims to the reality of what is depicted, and the viewer is intended to be aware that they are
watching and listening to a simulation, performed by an artist. Nonetheless, many viewers
attribute therapeutic outcomes to these and other categories of intentional ASMR videos, and
there are voluminous anecdotal reports of their effectiveness in inducing sleep for those
susceptible to insomnia, and assuaging a range of symptoms, including those associated
with depression, anxiety and panic attacks.[20][25][26]

In the first peer-reviewed article on ASMR, published in Perspectives in Biology in summer 2013,
Nitin Ahuja, who was at the time of publication a medical resident at the University of Virginia,
invited conjecture on whether the receipt of simulated medical attention might have some
tangible therapeutic value for the recipient, comparing the purported positive outcome of clinical
roleplay ASMR videos with the themes of the novel Love in the Ruins by author and
physician Walker Percy, published in 1971.[8]

The story follows Tom More, a psychiatrist living in a dystopian future who develops a device
called the Ontological Lapsometer that, when traced across the scalp of a patient, detects the
neurochemical correlation to a range of disturbances. In the course of the novel, More admits that
the "mere application of his device" to a patient's body "results in the partial relief of his
symptoms".[27]

Ahuja alleges that through the character of Tom More, as depicted in Love in the Ruins, Percy
"displays an intuitive understanding of the diagnostic act as a form of therapy unto itself". Ahuja
asks whether similarly, the receipt of simulated personal clinical attention by an actor in an ASMR
video might afford the listener and viewer some relief.[8]
Tactile[edit]

In addition to audio and visual stimuli, ASMR may be caused by light touches and brushing against
the skin such as effleurage.[28][1][15]

Susceptibility[edit]

Those experiencing ASMR have higher Big Five personality trait scores in openness-to-experience

and neuroticism, but lower conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness. ASMR intensity is
correlated with the openness-to-experience and neuroticism traits.[29] The sensory and emotional
experience of ASMR overlaps with and may be partially explained by characteristics associated
with mindfulness.[30]

In December 2012, Craig Richard – a blogger on the subject of ASMR – published the first results of
a poll comprising 12 questions that had received 161 respondents, followed by second results in
August 2015 by which time there were 477 responses.[31][32]

In August 2014, Craig Richard, Jennifer Allen, and Karissa Burnett published a survey
at SurveyMonkey that was reviewed by Shenandoah University Institutional Review Board and
the Fuller Theological Seminary School of Psychology Human Studies Review Committee. In
September 2015, when the survey had received 13,000 responses, the publishers announced that
they were analyzing the data with the intent to publish the results. No such publication or report is
yet available.