L‘Autonomous Sensory Meridian Responseknown as ASMRis the feeling of Pleasureheat, sometimes tingling that starts at the top of the head and goes spreads throughout the bodyin relation to listening to particular sounds such as the to whisper, to scratch, whispergenerated by slow, low-volume movements. There are many videos online, especially on YouTube and TikTok, aimed at triggering these sensations, from the sound of hair cutting to that of chewing or breaking something crunchy, from whispering into the microphone to the soft sound of fabrics scratched with the fingernail. Not infrequently Those who experience ASMR say they feel relaxedand use it as sleep aid.
ASMR is a phenomenon little studied by sciencewhich has only become relevant since the media trend that has been triggered in the last decade. The first experimental studies date back to the end of the 2010s, and tell us some curiosities about this singular brain process, which not everyone experiences. ASMR, in fact, does not appear to be a universal experience.
The Neuroscience of ASMR: Why It’s Relaxing
Canadian researchers from the University of Winnipeg, studying subjects exposed to typical ASMR sounds, observed increased activity in the regions of the brain associated with Pleasure and to the social connection. Furthermore, they detected a less Default Mode Network activitythe network associated with “mind wandering,” while they found increased connectivity between some areas of the occipital, frontal, and temporal cortex, suggesting a very peculiar resting-state brain connectivity.
The Default Mode Network is often associated with increased perceived anxiety, given its activation during mental projections of the self into the future which would explain, by contrast, why theASMR very often has effects perceived as beneficial relaxation, well being And stress reduction. Transposed to the cognitive sphere, it would therefore appear that ASMR leads to a reduced capacity for inhibition of evoked sensory-emotional experiences: this means a increased sensory perception relating to listening to this particular set of sounds, and a more lively emotion perceived.
A 2018 study conducted by the University of Sheffield revealed that people who experience ASMR show a significant reduction in heart rate it’s a increase in positive emotions. The first study to investigate brain behavior during ASMR with functional magnetic resonance imaging dates back to a few years ago, 2018, and observes a significant activation of the medial prefrontal cortexan area generally associated with social behaviors, including grooming (the mutual “de-fleaing” of monkeys).
It’s theoxytocinoften called the happy hormone, to bind to receptors in the medial prefrontal cortex during ASMR experiences. Other areas markedly active during these experiences were the nucleus accumbens (known for its role in the perception of reward), theisland (strongly linked to emotionality and during the experience of orgasm) and the secondary somatosensory cortex (which processes sensory information).
Not everyone experiences this type of feeling
It emerges from the studies on the subject that We are not all inclined to experience pleasant sensations of this intensity while listening to typical sounds. Some, for example, experience sensations of annoyance or excitement, with an increase in heart rate. ASMR seems in fact associated with some personality traitssuch as theempathy, openness to experienceand the strong inclination towards intimate affiliative behaviorsthat is, those behaviors made up of close bonds, often of care and attention.
In a further study from the University of Winnipeg, the personality traits most associated with ASMR experiences were found to be neuroticismdefined as a personality trait tending towards anxiety, depression, poor adaptation in stressful situations and a high sensory and emotional sensitivity and therefore a greater awareness of one’s physiological perceptual states during ASMR, and theintroversionwhich leads to an increased internal gaze. Net of these data, theASMR It remains an experience not universally accessible And highly variable from individual to individual, thus also differentiating the type of sound trigger which can trigger this experience in different people.