ASMR and the Brain Orgasm
An audio phenomenon has been sweeping the internet for the past few years. Perhaps you've heard about it already. It is called ASMR, and it is everywhere now. You can't go on any social media site without seeing thousands of videos with the ASMR tag. But what in the world is it? Why do people feel different sensations and when they listen to specific recordings of a s m r? It hasn't made a deal with the part of the brain that processes audio? Where did it come from, and is the rise of ASMR linked to our stressed-out and exhausting society that becomes darker and more depressing every day? Well, let's find out.
So what is ASMR?
ASMR stands for the autonomous sensory meridian response. The sensation is autonomous because a human's body doesn't automatically. The sensory is because it affects the sensory system. But not many people know about the word Meridian Meridian means an extremely high point of excitement or activity. So the name means that a sensation that occurs automatically and reaches a high point in the sensory system.
In layman's terms, ASMR is a pleasant tingling sensation that occurs around the extensive parts of the nervous system, like the top of the head, spine, and neck. Some people even experience a tingling sensation all over their skin. They will develop goosebumps, and the hair on their arms will rise.
People have always been able to develop tingles from listening to sounds. But there is no single sound that affects every single human, so it was extremely difficult to measure the effect of ASMR sounds. Scientists confirmed the sensation and tingling due to certain sounds in the 1990s, but it was so difficult to determine what sounds created the tingles and which people were affected by certain sounds.
Some samples of ASMR from Youtube
The rise in ASMR videos
As of 2020, ASMR became the third most popular search term on all of YouTube worldwide. And it completely makes sense. The term is relatively easy for anyone to type into a search bar, including non-English speakers. Understanding the language of ASMR video is not important since people are listening so that they can experience the tingling sensation. No matter what language you speak, you can choose from a wide range of videos in your language and other languages to experience ASMR tingles.
The actual term ASMR was developed quite recently in 2010. The woman who coined the acronym is named Jennifer Allen. She is a healthcare IT consultant who made a Facebook group dedicated to studying and learning about the phenomenon. One of the reasons she wanted to study this phenomenon so much was because she had experienced it several times while watching space videos. Since there was no real information about it on the internet, sometimes you tile. But he began to type in different Search terms on YouTube, and people had the same experiences she did. But it still had no name. So she dedicated her valuable time studying the phenomenon and reaching out to other people who experienced it.
Her work laid the foundation for the development of the entire ASMR community.
What types of ASMR are there on the internet?
Every single human who can hear can experience ASMR tingles. There are millions of videos on the internet, and each video has its own way of creating different sensations. Any sounds can induce ASMR tingling. But there are special categories of videos that A quick scroll through YouTube using the word ASMR will reveal thousands of scantily clad women pressing their lips onto their stand-up mics. At the same time, they stare directly into the camera.
These really hot-looking chicks with barely any clothes on will even lick their microphones so they can make ASMR licking videos. As long as the audio can cause the listener to develop tingles, it qualifies as an ASMR sound.
But hot girls licking microphones are not the only type of ASMR videos out there. Here are the top categories of ASMR videos and what type of category each video contains.
Creative Content
People who enjoy getting creative with their ASMR videos may create their own content, music, or stories. There are a handful of ASMR YouTube video creators out there that have developed storylines and characters as if they were dungeon masters for D&D games. So not only do their viewers get to listen to videos so they can experience the wonderful pleasant tingling sensations, but they are also entertained by the story creator. Many of these videos are made after reading the comments section so they can adapt their content to what their viewers want to see.
Cooking videos
Who doesn't love the sound of food cooking? Water boiling, bacon frying, the ticks of the microwave or the toaster oven, and the sound of utensils scraping against bowls, pans, and cups all create unique sounds that can be used in ASMR videos. Search for ASMR cooking videos, and you will see hundreds of thousands of videos on how to cook dishes from every type of cuisine. Most of these cooking ASMR videos don't have anybody speaking. Viewers get to watch the host mix, chop, dice, slice, steam, bake, and cook their recipes. The cooking sounds are amplified. Ingredients and directions are in the subtitles.
Educational Videos
You can learn a certain subject while someone is speaking in an ASMR type of voice. These videos tend to be historical or scientific. Language learning ASRM videos are big as well. But the biggest educational videos have to do with studying. Study with me videos are becoming more and more popular as people around the world want to find friends to study with. The videos allow them to focus on their work and develop discipline. People who watch Study with me videos on a regular basis say that they feel like they have a study partner. Most of these study videos focus on the sounds of typing, the scratching of pencil and pen on paper, along with very light music and rainfall.
But if the categories of videos above don't pique your interest, there are still hundreds of other types of videos out there that you can search through. If you liked videos of women with manicured hands rubbing marbles together, you could find them on YouTube. Some videos just have a pair of hands crinkling different grades of paper. There are even some mystery and horror-based ASMR videos.
Hot chicks and ASMR
Streaming platforms are now a major way for people to earn money on the internet. The rise of twitch has shown the world that as long as people are entertained by your content, you can get paid for it. Even if a streamer doesn't have any subscribers, they are automatically enrolled into the commercial program, and the Twitch platform will place ads on their stream. The streamer will earn a little bit of money because of those commercials. But, twitch only allows streamers with 50 subscribers or more to join their commercial monetary program. Most streamers who have 50 subscribers already have a few monthly monetary subscribers, so they already have a, albeit small, source of income.
Entertainment comes in many forms, and whatever a person wants to spend their money on is their business. That being said, there's a lot of people out there that will happily pay a nearly nude girl $20 a month so that she can just sit at her desk and talk. In most cases, the subjects in which these girls speak about aren't inspiring or deep. Now, I don't know what they talked about because I'm not really into watching good chips do absolutely nothing. But a lot of these semi-closed young ladies spend a few hours a week creating ASMR continent for their stream.
All you need to do is type ASMR into the twitch search bar, and you will easily find hundreds of sexy girl streamers that are whispering into their mics, crinkling plastic, and rubbing their mics. After searching through a single page of ASMR streamers, you will see that all of the girls are very cute, and they wear clothing that is two sizes too small for them. But hey, that's their business, not mine. Whatever brings in the money, right? All I can say is that I'm sure they're having a much better time in the rooms licking their microphones than if they were earning money by working at Pizza Hut, BJ's, or CVS, and I can't blame them for that.
Are there any negative effects from listening to ASMR too often?
This might be an odd question. There's no way that the pleasant tingling Sensations that come from these sounds and videos can be bad for you, right? Everyone online is enjoying ASMR videos and relishing in the pleasant sensations they receive. But it is important to ask since these sounds affect the nervous system. As you may or may not know, when something repeatedly affects a certain part of your nervous system, it can be good or bad. But repeated activation of the sensory system can wind up being terrible for your nerves because they could become numb or worn-out and even more stimulation to develop sensory. A well-known issue that develops because of an overload of the sensory system is carpal tunnel syndrome. The nerves in your hands, fingers, and wrist are constantly stimulated by the same repetitive movements.
What does this mean for your nervous system as well as your auditory system?
Thanks to the dedicated research of scientists who study auditory sensations and their effect on the nervous system, we now know that we have nothing to fear from listening to ASMR videos too often. The only thing anyone is really in danger of is becoming bored or uninterested in the video that they're watching. However, if you do watch a ASMR videos too often, it may be more difficult for you to experience the pleasurable sensations from the videos. If you notice that you are watching more and more videos, but you're not getting the same response, stop listening to the videos for about a week.
How can you improve your ASMR listening experience?
The fundamental principle of listening to ASMR videos is that it is supposed to induce tingling sensations in the nervous system. Most people find that they can only feel the tingling from ASMR videos when they are relaxed. So, if you have the time, you should engage in other gentle light activities to go along with listening to ASMR videos. You can take a bath and drink a glass of wine. Spend the night in your room and turn off any harsh lights, and light up some candles. Lay down on your bed and let the sounds of your videos wash over you. People enjoy putting on face masks and doing other gentle beauty activities while they listen to ASMR videos.
Some people are not able to induce the tingling sensations through ASMR videos when they are active; walking, studying, cleaning the house, driving, or any other activity where their focus is split can prevent a person from fully enjoying their videos. So only listen to ASMR videos when you can relax. These videos can also help you fall asleep.
Conclusion
After a long stressful day from school or work, it's nice to know that there are videos out there on the internet that are dedicated to pleasing a person's sensory and nervous system. If a person wishes to relax, all they need to do is play a video of ASMR rainfall, and they can drift away into a deep, dreamless sleep. But when it comes to ASMR storytelling videos, some stories are so engaging that they actually wake the person up! They're so interested in the storyline. That's what I call great content! Many of these videos help people who have anxiety and depression. We can expect to see many more ASMR videos in the years to come, especially as this world becomes more stressful and tiring. So the next time you want to relax and have a peaceful moment to yourself, look up an ASMR video and prepare to feel like never before.