ASMR

[ballzac]

The term "autonomous sensory meridian response" (ASMR) is a neologism for a biological phenomenon, characterized as a distinct, pleasurable tingling sensation often felt in the head, scalp or peripheral regions of the body in response to various visual, auditory, olfactory and cognitive stimuli. The phenomenon was first noted through Internet culture such as blogs and online videos. Tom Stafford, a professor at the University of Sheffield, says "It might well be a real thing, but it's inherently difficult to research."

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_response

A search here came up with nothing but a single post about this phenomenon.

I've always gotten this feeling from things like haircuts and dental work, and some music such as Danny Elfman's "Ice Dance". I never realised it had a name until I saw a TYT video today about youtube videos designed to trigger the response. The descriptions of the videos sounded weird and I couldn't imagine how they could actually produce this effect, but having felt this feeling many times in the past, I was open-minded enough to give one a try, and I gotta say, some of them are really effective, especially the ones with good binaural audio.

 

 

Now, I know some people are going to assume it's sexual, as did TYT, but it's not at all. A much more accurate way to describe the nature of these videos would be "maternal". It's a particular technique used to produce the response, but the response itself is the same regardless of what triggers it. The sensation itself is what I would describe as quasi-tactile.

It's interesting because I've never found relaxation audio to be effective at all, and while these videos aren't specifically designed for relaxation, it is relaxing to be able to just sit back and experience the ASMR. I'm going to try using one of these at night to help with my sleeping difficulties.

Edited February 19, 2013 by ballzac

[bogfrog]

I think Tortsen was talking about this in the 'things that make you feel good' thread a few months ago.

Its really quite interesting the variety of things that will set it off, for me the most common is at the conclusion of a really good film where i have become emotionally involved with the characters, or getting into freshly made bed, but i can produce a light-to-medium rush at will if i am relaxed.

[CβL]

Would this be the same as feeling waves of pleasure down your spine after concentrating to beautiful music? A quick read says yes.

There are certain pieces of music that reliably and strongly trigger this response in me. What actually happens is similar to an orgasm in that the waves of sensation reach a high intensity, and then seem to "run out" and require time to recharge - they all produce a relaxation response, but require relaxation in the first place to occur. For an extremely long time, I didn't definitely attribute this effect to the music - because often I would have had caffeine in my system, and it's plausible that it was related to the effect, or that I was simply sitting still, and my skin temperature lowered. It definitely seems that caffeine interferes with the effect in me - possibly just through vasoconstriction.
I also noticed that the pleasure responses were amplified while on certain psychoactive substances, but having had such a long break from them, I can't accurately recall the details.

That video didn't really do it for me though. I actually felt a strange combination of irritation and intrigue to be honest.

After trying for a few minutes to experience it (for this reply), the first minute of this music (a favourite of mine, this rendition slightly faster than I'm used to) did it:

I felt the pleasure travel from my head to all parts of my skin, quite strongly on my legs. And after they were over, it felt like there were very slow ripples stirring on the skin. It was maybe a half-dozen waves, they seem to have run out now (sometimes there can be more). I feel a lot calmer physically, and mentally quite calm too. But yeah, somehow I can tell that it's "run out for now" (I might get a small wave every minute, but very weak).

It was this response, that actually started me on the pathway to learning music, playing an instrument, and understanding sound. :D

Edited February 19, 2013 by CβL

[Distracted]

I get a feeling like that in my balls sometimes.

[ballzac]

That video didn't really do it for me though.

Make sure you're using headphones, preferably a good pair. I wasn't getting much from my speakers, but I put on my ATH-AD900s, which are a good quality open-backed headphone with a really good soundstage, and could pretty much get the ASMR straight away. And every time she would touch the microphone or whisper in one ear, it sent solid chills down my spine.

[cactuscarl]

I can get that feeling on command (not always but most the time) its much milder when I create the feeling but when it happens in response to something I can usually keep it going up and down my body for a few minutes if I concentrate.

[Bert&Ernie]

If it's what I think you are talking about then I get it quite often when reading some really mind boggling information or conspiracies... I even get it when watching shows that I really enjoy.... I bought it was just me feeling weird or some sort kg alien contacting me or even just a type of shiver.

I am even getting it slight as I type this on the train on the way to TAFE it's a very strange feeling and I usually get it on the back of my head, neck and spine

[CβL]

I get that 'profound revelation' feeling as well, but it's usually only one or two waves I think. They might also be quicker moving than the ones from music, and less spaced out in time. What I find really weird, is that my conscious brain will sometimes say 'Oh that's trivial, it might even be totally false', but I'll still get those shivers/tingles.

I'll try the earphones 'zac, but I'm unsure how that will affect things, as my speakers (which are high fidelity) work just fine for getting the response from music.

[Getafix]

I am a music nut and define some of my favourite pieces of music by the consistency in which I get shivers/tingles, body hair standing on end.

The feeling is a like to coming up albeit only lasts a few seconds.

Only music does this for me.

Getafix

[ballzac]

I'll try the earphones 'zac, but I'm unsure how that will affect things, as my speakers (which are high fidelity) work just fine for getting the response from music.

It's a different trigger though. One is an emotional trigger from listening to a piece of music that moves you, and the other is to do with that feeling of someone being close to you and touching you etc. My desktop speakers are Event Tr-8s, and they are superb for listening to music on, including getting this effect. But they do not successfully give you that feeling of proximity that is required for the video I posted.

If you don't get it from getting a haircut or dental work, like I do, then it might not be a successful trigger for you anyway.

[chnt]

i got it last night in my hands once i got off the table after receiving a massage, sometimes i get it around my head, can't really say exactly under what circumstances...

when i have the time i will check out the vid with headphones, thanks.

[planthelper]

nice topic!

i haven;t clicked the links yet, but i'm sure to know what you mean.

i get it with, different triggers, and this is what i called, "when the energy fields run thru my body",

if one tries to experience it often, it get's weaker, it seems to need reloading for me.

music, is a sure way, but nature observations, and feeling universal love can do it aswell.

it's aswell connected for me with, what i call the energy ball (i posted about it here), because i have this since childhood,

and the sensation now get's so strong that i now always release it.

a meditation or hypnotic state, one has to end, unless you fall asleep, same thing here for me.

i collect all the "energy" (the tingling sensation which takes over your body, that you are so happy you could die) using my hands,

than form it into a ball, than i blow the ball (using my breath) towards say north, than north east, than east, in a clock wise fashion.

like this my conscion tells me, i give back what i recieved, after it healed me.

and because it's suddenly all about giving, it can get even stronger again.

i can't do it as well, if i smoke and drink a lot.

CBL, my favorite, for this is mozart, tschaikowsy, and dvorak (chello in b minor).

[ballzac]

I get a feeling like that in my balls sometimes.

I wasn't sure if you're joking or not, but if you're serious, does your scrotum shrink at the same time too? If so, this is part of the fight or flight response. They shrink because if you are going to fight, they are better protected, and if you're going to run, they won't be flopping around and getting damaged. You may not necessarily feel an adrenaline rush. It may occur due to something mildly unsettling, like seeing a moving shadow in the bush at night.

[planthelper]

the fight and flight response, could be maybe mistaken for this asmr, aswell as the ssri brain tingling.

the fight and flight response aswell can be felt in the body, as "rushing thru", but instead of feeling like one is conected with universal love, i rather feels not so good.

the anus, naturaly restricts aswell, as you don't want to leave sniffable dna behind, as the predator, could track you down other wise.

some people think, it's a gay phopic reaction, but it's not (some people get it if they see a man much bigger and stronger than themselves).

[qualia]

music is given, although the more you listen the less effect it has (like DRUGS lol wut?

but seriously sometimes i get it just contemplating reality, taking a step back from my immediate reality and contemplating the vast nature of my existence, feeling the shifting space unfolding before my being (not eyes, being). like little ants scurrying around doing their thing, not meaning anything but thinking it's everything,

funny little creatures, us humans, hey?

[planthelper]

i believe children are able to feel it aswell.

funny how we needed the internet, to come to concensus about this, and give it a fancy name.

years ago, we just called it running goose pimples.

[qualia]

i dont think we "needed" the internet at all. as a matter of fact i'm pretty sure people could come to this consensus on their own. it's just the internet allows us to communicate with people over distances in less time than would be otherwise. if there was no internet you'd be saying "funny how we needed ships to carry our mail across the seas to come to this consensus", and before globalisation "funny how we need horses to ride across the land to come to a consensus", and before that "funny how we needed paper to write things down to come to a consensus", "funny how we needed writing to come to this consensus", "funny how we needed language to come to this consensus", "funny how we needed consciousness to come to this consensus"

what consensus are we coming to again?

[qualia]

really it's just enjoying things, people get it all the time.

part of being human, name or not.

[Torsten]

I've written about this a few times here and also on the various internet groups that sprung up over the years. Currently the most organised group is on facebook where various protocols have been established, questionaires developed, and some medical research being organised.

I find the sensation sublime, but found it interesting how many people on the groups find it worrying or troublesome. It can be quite debilitating which is why is stresses some people out. Personally I can stop it pretty much at will, except I like it too much to stop it. So if I am looking at you while you're talking to me and I have a smile on my face and my eye balls roll back a little, but am otherwise unresponsive, then you can wait till I've finished ;)

I also frequently get macrospia with it which used to freak me out as a kid. Now it only worries me if I am driving.

For most people is seems to involve either intense attention being paid to them or attention being paid to an object in front of the person [eg there are a few people in the group who get it very strongly from watching shoeshine videos]. I am pretty convinced that serotonin is involved because almost all common triggers revolve around serotonin. For me dopamine kills it. In fact, all I have to do to kill it is to think of something sexual.

I used to have little control over it as i only knew very few triggers. Now even the imagination of such triggers can trigger it in most instances when I am relaxed enough. Before learning how to intensify it the only way to prolong it was to relax inbetween waves [as described by others above]. Once you know how to build the waves you can intensify them without the relaxation phase. It is not unusual for me to be able to prolong it to a 20-30 minute session from a single trigger if I want to.

When I was little I used to get it from my parents cleaning my ears with cotton buds. They had no idea why I couldn't get enough of this hygiene ritual when I loathed all others, LOL. When i finally told them about ASMR they dragged to various docs because they thought I had a brain tumour or something. The docs had no idea what it was and had never heard of the sensation. I was banned from wearing sweat bands and bandannas and that apparently 'solved the problem' [ie I didn't mention it again]. I think most people keep it very private. well, at least till the internet arrived ;)

Zac, you should join the FB group.

Qualia, ASMR is quite rare. we're trying to establish a percentage, but at the moment it looks like 10% is the absolute upper limit. That was a rough count several years ago with even the vaguest cases included and involved no screening. ie this should probably be rephrased to "at least 90% of the population definitely don't get it". Once certain protocol filters are used this drops down to below 1% and may be more likely around 0.01%. If you don't have it you also don't really get what it is. Obviously 'just enoying things' doesn't really apply to those people who feel it debilitating and overwhelming.

As for the consensus, just imagine how traumatising it is for a child to be dragged to docs and specialists at that age because of a fear of brain cancer or other brain problems, and with the docs all agreeing that it is a problem even though they don't know what it is. A kid or parent these days can get on the web and look up the symptoms and go "cool, my kid is having a great time as long as I don't make it into a drama". Sometimes it helps to name and quantify things so we know what each person is talking about. For example you might realise that it is not 'just enjoying things'.

[planthelper]

yeah, now i remeber again the mums cotton buds did it for me aswell, hehehe.

serotonin might be involved indeed, that's why i have developed several techniques to stopp it, because for me, if i keep the sensation for a long time, i feel a little sad afterwards (and sort of slightly exhausted).

this sensation, is my only "experience" when i'm not using drugs and alc.

probably it's genetic trait.

[planthelper]

yesterday, i noticed that it's almost impossible to get that sensation, if one experiences a depressed mood.

i meanwhile have aswell remebered, that this sensation, always was my companion on the disco dance floor, if it was not there, i would not dance, or stopped to dance.

[bogfrog]

Qualia, ASMR is quite rare. we're trying to establish a percentage, but at the moment it looks like 10% is the absolute upper limit. That was a rough count several years ago with even the vaguest cases included and involved no screening. ie this should probably be rephrased to "at least 90% of the population definitely don't get it". Once certain protocol filters are used this drops down to below 1% and may be more likely around 0.01%.

I find this quite strange, as i have asked many of my friends and family if they experience this sensation and every person i have asked knows what i am talking about instantly and says they experience it also.

Maybe there is pseudo-ASMR and authentic ASMR? Or perhaps it just happens to be alot more prevalent in the circles i run in?

I have really enjoyed reading through this thread and each time it happens to me now, my awareness is more centred upon it and it feels intensified and lasts longer than it used to.

[planthelper]

I find this quite strange, as i have asked many of my friends and family if they experience this sensation and every person i have asked knows what i am talking about instantly and says they experience it also.

Maybe there is pseudo-ASMR and authentic ASMR? Or perhaps it just happens to be alot more prevalent in the circles i run in?

I have really enjoyed reading through this thread and each time it happens to me now, my awareness is more centred upon it and it feels intensified and lasts longer than it used to.

i had similar thoughts, regarding that one, firstly, rather ask people about it, which one thinks they have it aswell, and secondly, one probably surrounds oneselfe, more with similar people, even if one is not aware of this phenomena.

think it that way, you could ask the rough necks, on the oil rig, or the jobo in the pub, and you get probably zero, people who know what you mean.

your pseudo asmr, is a brilliant thought. i think lissening to people who the first time, hear about this, but have it, is much better, than to communicate with people, who talk about it since years, because they become conditioned.

even if you can experience it, and say live a life of a gangster, than your proffession might, avoid you, from having it.

there is another thing aswell, but since i grew up, i hardly ever had it again, i can't even describe it much, because one seems to get amnesia regarding of how it feels. as child i could go there, often, i had to want it, and the outside force had to want it aswell, i think, "it felt like floating in a parallel universe". i totaly had forgotten about it as an adult, but i had it mildly once again many years ago and it triggered my memory. i don't think it's a psychiatric condition, like when you disconnect from realety, or having an out of body experience, which is caused by trauma. it might have been an out of body experience, of a wonderfull and beautyfull kind. i liked it when it happend.