ASMR and the sounds that soothe

Devaan describes his ASMR as a pulsing, tingling feeling on the back of his neck. His preferred stimuli are whispers, shuffling cards, scissors, tapping noises, anything that makes a crisp…

By Here Be Monsters • May 24, 2017 • 1 min read

Devaan describes his ASMR as a pulsing, tingling feeling on the back of his neck. His preferred stimuli are whispers, shuffling cards, scissors, tapping noises, anything that makes a crisp enough sound to trigger his ASMR. These sounds make him relaxed, euphoric and drowsy.

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is a physical reaction experienced by some unknown percentage of the population (to varying degrees). Due to being only recently recognized and named, ASMR is still poorly understood scientifically. Its evolutionary purpose (if any) is uncertain, though one popular theory suggests that it might serve a social bonding or grooming purpose.

Ingraham’s ASMR awakening came one day at work when a coworker whispered into his ear. He googled “Why does my brain tingle when I hear whispering?” He stumbled into the online community of “ASMR artists” (aka. “ASMRtists”) who stimulate huge audiences with their preferred triggers.