Some people feel a nice, tingling feeling on their head and neck when they hear soft sounds, like whispering. This is called ASMR. Many people watch ASMR videos to relax or to sleep.

In one experiment, people who feel ASMR watched these videos. Their heart rate went down, and they felt calmer. But people who do not feel ASMR changed less. Not everyone feels it.

Some people feel a pleasant tingling on their head when they hear someone whisper or watch slow, gentle movements, such as brushing. This feeling is called ASMR. For years, many thought it was just in people's heads.

In 2015, an online survey asked 475 people who experience ASMR about it. Whispering was the most common trigger, and many said they used ASMR videos to relax or fall asleep.

But these answers came from the people themselves, and research on ASMR is still new. In 2018, researchers measured people's bodies while they watched ASMR videos. People who experience ASMR felt better, and in the laboratory their heart rate dropped by about three beats per minute on average. People who do not experience ASMR showed smaller changes.

For some people, a whisper, a crisp sound or a slow, attentive hand movement sets off a pleasant tingling that spreads from the scalp down the neck. The sensation is called ASMR, short for autonomous sensory meridian response, and the once-dismissed internet fad is now studied scientifically.

A 2015 survey of 475 self-identified experiencers found that most used ASMR videos to relax or fall asleep. The respondents were enthusiasts, though, and the benefits were self-reported. A 2018 study combined an online experiment with laboratory measurements. Only people who experience ASMR reported more pleasure while watching.

In the lab, their heart rate fell by about three beats per minute while their skin conductance rose slightly, an odd mix of relaxation and arousal. Non-experiencers showed smaller changes. An fMRI study of ten experiencers detected activity in the nucleus accumbens, a reward-related region, during tingles. That study had no control group, so it is a first clue at best.

Expectations play a part as well. In another experiment, people new to ASMR were swayed by being told in advance that a sound would cause tingling. Many people feel nothing at all, and some find ASMR unpleasant.