ASMR - the brain tingling condition

AnonoBoy

I was listening to an episode of This American Life today and one of the pieces was about a woman who has ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) although she didn't know what it was for years.

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

It's a condition where certain audio triggers produce a tingling sensation in the brain which can spread down the spine. People who have it descrive it as very calming or trance like.

The woman used to spend hours watching the shopping network because she found the soft voices of the presenters and the sounds of items being picked up etc. would bring on the sensation for her.

So, like everything, there's a following for it online with people posting videos attempting to trigger the response in others. It's not porn but it's definitely odd.

Like this one where a woman whispers and eats candy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhWrIKdn8ic

So.... do any boardsies have this odd condition? I find it fascinating.

Calibos

http://www.boards.ie/search/submit/?subforums=1&forum=7&query=asmr

seamus

Uh, spine-tingling. This is a thing and always has been. Like when you hear someone singing a song and the hairs on your arm stand on end/gives you goosebumps.

I'm sure for some people it happens all the time and for other it basically never happens. But it's not exactly odd.

I can do it at will, create a tingle down my spine and cause goosebumps to appear. I think loads of other people can too.

ThisRegard

More detailed video here, and many more in the related video column on the youtube page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T9DM5TiB4o

fussyonion

Yep I have it.

I watch ASMR videos on a regular basis and I love it, though it's really hard to explain to people who don't understand it.

Basically, soft speaking voices or gentle movements/tapping/scratching can make you feel so relaxed (and sleepy sometimes).

Your whole body just relaxes and there's a new phenomenon now with 3D Binaural ASMR videos where the person making the video has a 3D microphone.

The sounds/voice goes into your right and left ear respectively at different moments and it's like you're in the room with them.

Again, hard to explain to those who don't get it, but for a lot of people, it can really relax them and help them unwind.

Someone said it was like a massage for the mind!

I personally love "GentleWhispering" and "VisualSounds1" on Youtube; they've amassed thousands of subscribers and are great at what they do.

AnonoBoy

seamus wrote: »

I'm sure for some people it happens all the time and for other it basically never happens. But it's not exactly odd.

But it seems to be a lot more than just spine-tingling for some people. It can zone them out for hours in a sort of trance. So I think it's different to the normal 'goosebumps' effect that lots of people get.

And while a song or something incredibly evocative can have an effect on lots of people this lot seem to be triggered by the most mundane things - someone talking about shopping in a whispered voice, or the sound of a brush on a canvas.

krudler

I get it, stuff like pages being turned or someone chewing gum quietly does it, it's very calming.

AnonoBoy

krudler wrote: »

I get it, stuff like pages being turned or someone chewing gum quietly does it, it's very calming.

Crazy!

I'd love to experience it fully. Although I suppose everyone has some sort of low-level version - a baby's response to a mother's voice perhaps?

Three Seasons

seamus wrote: »

Uh, spine-tingling. This is a thing and always has been. Like when you hear someone singing a song and the hairs on your arm stand on end/gives you goosebumps.

I'm sure for some people it happens all the time and for other it basically never happens. But it's not exactly odd.

I can do it at will, create a tingle down my spine and cause goosebumps to appear. I think loads of other people can too.

You haven't experienced it so, no one who has experienced it would say it's like goosebumps. It stems from a feeling in the brain. It feels great, trance like, orgasm like, hard to describe to someone who hasn't experienced it.

The central feeling emanates from inside the brain.

krudler

Three Seasons wrote: »

You haven't experienced it so, no one who has experienced it would say it's like goosebumps. It stems from a feeling in the brain. It feels great, trance like, orgasm like, hard to describe to someone who hasn't experienced it.

The central feeling emanates from inside the brain.

Feeling content, thats the best way I can describe it, like that moment just before you fall asleep when you're knackered

fussyonion

I don't get actual tingles but I do feel relaxed and a poster has just hit the nail on the head up there ^^-it's like the feeling you get just before you're about to nod off, you're not necessarily tired and the videos don't make you tired, but they make your whole mind and body chill.

With some of the Binaural videos, when they whisper into each ear, I find THAT very goosebumpy.

Funny, I've had this ASMR thing since I was a child.
In school, if someone was asked to read aloud, there'd be one or two people in class with soft voices and I'd find myself in a trance.
And if someone was unzipping their pencil case or turning pages in their copybooks, I'd find that really relaxing.

It's only in the last two years I've realised there's a name for it and it's great that there are so many people on Youtube who do these videos.

My name is URL

What's wrong with just using powerful drugs? Damn kids today

fussyonion

My name is URL wrote: »

What's wrong with just using powerful drugs? Damn kids today

There's always one!
If ASMR sounds silly to you or you don't understand, hit back with an unhelpful reply. Great stuff.

missingtime

I hear this blurry sound when I, for want of a better phrase, flex my temples. Don't know what it is. Not sure if its along the lines of this but I've had it for years.

Flaker

I know sometimes when someone whispers something to me, I get that spine tingling sensation. It's really nice - not ina pervy way or anything, just a very pleasurable sensation. It doesn't happen too often and has nothing to do with what has been said but more the actual whispering itself. I will deffo be checking out those youtube vids!!

My name is URL

fussyonion wrote: »

There's always one!
If ASMR sounds silly to you or you don't understand, hit back with an unhelpful reply. Great stuff.

Chill out

fussyonion

My name is URL wrote: »

Chill out

:pac::D

Ficheall

ThisRegard wrote: »

More detailed video here, and many more in the related video column on the youtube page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T9DM5TiB4o

For those of you who can't spare the hour - she spends it whispering and tapping/drumming her fingernails on various household objects.

metaoblivia

Yes, I have ASMR. I listen to ASMR videos quite a bit before bed. It helps relax me and lulls me to sleep. Before finding out about ASMR, I used to watch make-up tutorials on youtube not for the content, but just for the relaxation and ASMR effects. I would also look for sound effects videos, like that virtual barbershop one. I looooved that video.

It's hard to explain, but a good ASMR sends what's almost like a shower of tingles down your spine and through your whole body, really. Different people have different triggers. A friend of mine only gets it when listening to pouring water. For me, scratching, hair-brushing, and the right voice can do it.

fussyonion wrote: »

I personally love "GentleWhispering" and "VisualSounds1" on Youtube; they've amassed thousands of subscribers and are great at what they do.

These two are some of my favorites! VisualSounds1 was one of the first ASMR people I found.

ThisRegard

Ficheall wrote: »

For those of you who can't spare the hour - she spends it whispering and tapping/drumming her fingernails on various household objects.

Thanks, I didn't watch it myself ! With the title I thought it would be a selection of various triggers, and not just tapping on different things.

danslevent

I say this masterpiece would have you tingling in no time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNJdJIwCF_Y&playnext=1&list=PLFAAFE2366545DE3F&feature=results_main

Sauve

missingtime wrote: »

I hear this blurry sound when I, for want of a better phrase, flex my temples. Don't know what it is. Not sure if its along the lines of this but I've had it for years.

I do that!!
I think it's just the noise of the movement that I can hear in my ears because it's so close to them, but it's really cool all the same.

Virgil°

Hah, i have this too! So odd i thought i was the only one!. I'd always get it while getting my hair cut in the barbers, extremely relaxing. Any of Bob Ross' painting videos on youtube do it too(Id highly advise them), really relaxing soothing soft voice and his usage of brushes and palette knives too!

fussyonion

For you guys that love relaxing voices, you should go to Youtube and search "Lita relaxing voice massage."
She's a masseuse with one of the softest voices I've ever heard.

fussyonion

metaoblivia wrote: »

Yes, I have ASMR. I listen to ASMR videos quite a bit before bed. It helps relax me and lulls me to sleep. Before finding out about ASMR, I used to watch make-up tutorials on youtube not for the content, but just for the relaxation and ASMR effects. I would also look for sound effects videos, like that virtual barbershop one. I looooved that video.

It's hard to explain, but a good ASMR sends what's almost like a shower of tingles down your spine and through your whole body, really. Different people have different triggers. A friend of mine only gets it when listening to pouring water. For me, scratching, hair-brushing, and the right voice can do it.

These two are some of my favorites! VisualSounds1 was one of the first ASMR people I found.

I love VisualSound's makeover roleplay and the Clothes Shop roleplay.
MassageASMR is a newish guy who does great sounds videos and I nodded off last week watching the triggers video.

AnonoBoy

Oh man I gotta go score some pot after all this.

kwiva-g

I have this too, I had no idea it was a thing though!
I'm not sure if this is the same thing, but I discovered that listening to this song (in stereo, on headphones) gives a really nice tingling sensation, something to do with the overlap of the voice recording, and mostly in the left ear... I know it sounds mental, but give it a go, it's really nice!

The_Gatsby

My ex girlfriend used to give it to me. Only a slight tingling in my brain and down my spine but it was incredibly relaxing. Haven't had it in a while though

Clandestine

http://www.reddit.com/r/asmr

enjoy

positron

Virgil° wrote: »

I'd always get it while getting my hair cut in the barbers, extremely relaxing.

I fall asleep at barbers - it's not so much the sound, but the sensation of someone running their fingers (comb at the barbers) thru my hair - I just love that, and it makes me very relaxed and almost sleepy. I didn't know it had such an explanation, but to me personally, it reminds me my mom running her fingers thru my hair when I was young, and she used to do it for ages.. I thought the sensation was somehow linked to what prompts primates to groom each other for hours etc.

Also rainymood totally chills me out - but no as much as finger thru hair.

Check out http://www.rainymood.com/ - warning: audio starts straight away.

Sarn

I never realised this was a thing. I often get it at the barbers, a kind of feeling of profound contentment and relaxation, coupled with a kind of loosening, slight tingling of the muscles on my shoulders and upper back.

The other day two women in work were going up and down outside my office doing some checks. While they were doing it they were speaking in hushed tones as they moved along the corridor. I found myself briefly slipping into that state while I worked.

Toots

I get that too! Those ASMR videos definitely trigger it for me, I never knew they existed before now. The one that always gets me is if I'm straightening my hair, I get my husband to do the back and that always triggers me too.

keithb93

those videos give me a nice head buzz like alot of caffeine. But sometimes i get this seemingly out of nowhere and its very overpowering, where im half asleep and get a series of head rushes. Its very powerful and i cant move it but stops when i try, anyone get this?
(In before stroke)

RaRaRasputin

That surely didn't make me tingle but just angry.

Well, guess I don't have this great magic condition, too bad.