The Brain Science (and Benefits) of ASMR | Craig Richard | TED

Transcriber: Leslie Gauthier

I’m a bald man --

(Laughter)

but I don’t miss my hair.

What I do miss is going to the hairdresser.

I found it to be such an enjoyable and relaxing experience.

I loved it when they would rub their fingers through my hair

while they washed my hair in the sink.

I enjoyed it when they walked me over to the chair,

and they would play with my hair more

and talk to me about different hairstyles and haircuts I could get.

And I even enjoyed the gentle sound of the scissors --

snip, snip, snip --

right next to my ears.

I enjoyed it so much and I was so deeply relaxed

that I remember many times I would just sit there

and I’d think, “I’d pay you even if you just pretended to cut my hair.”

(Laughter)

There’s another moment also

that often stimulates this deep relaxation for me.

It’s whenever I get an eye exam.

(Laughing)

And I’m not talking about those puffs of air they blow into your eyeballs.

That just makes my eyelids flutter thinking about it.

But instead it’s when they bring out the wheels of lenses.

(Laughter)

And they click through them all.

And they want to know which lens helps you see better.

“One or two?”

(Laughter)

“One or two?”

(Laughter)

And they say it in this very relaxing voice.

(Laughter)

And there’s something about that moment of personal attention

and that soft voice that just deeply relaxes me.

And it gives me these light, sparkling, pleasurable brain tingles.

I enjoy it so much

that as they click through each option,

I want it to last a little bit longer.

So when they ask me, “One or two?”

I say, “Oh, I’m not sure.”

(Laughter)

Another moment that often stimulates this deep form of relaxation

is when I watch the TV show, Bob Ross’s “Joy of Painting.”

(Laughter and applause)

I would come home from school,

throw some pillows on the floor,

lie down

and let that soft voice just sweep over me.

And he had the nicest personality.

He’d turn to the camera,

he’d look right at me,

and he’d say the kindest things like, “There are no mistakes,

just happy accidents.”

(Laughter)

And then he’d turn back to his canvas

and he’d make these gentle, relaxing sounds with his paintbrush.

Tap, tap ...

tap, tap, tap.

And I found it so relaxing that I often fell asleep

and never saw him finish the painting.

(Laughter)

In 2013, I learned that this special response has a special name.

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response,

or much more simply, ASMR.

That is a complicated word,

so it’s a good thing we’ve got it simplified.

Now, I’m a physiologist.

I’m a researcher.

I’m a data nerd.

I was so excited to read about the science of ASMR.

In 2013, there wasn’t a single peer-reviewed research study.

What I did find were plenty of forums:

thousands and thousands of comments,

all across the internet,

discussing this blissful sensation.

And they all reported the same response that I felt.

They were deeply relaxed,

they felt comforted,

they felt calmed

and they had these light, sparkly brain tingles.

And I also noticed

that every scenario they described

that stimulated their ASMR

had a simple theme to it.

It was always when they were receiving positive personal attention

from a kind and caring individual.

And the examples they gave were very similar to my moments.

It was moments with hairdressers;

it was moments with health care professionals;

it was moments with teachers.

They’d tell stories of the teacher from their childhood with the soft voice

who would kneel down next to them

and help them solve a math problem.

It was moments with parents.

It was moments with their best friends

when they would whisper to each other in childhood.

Or they’d braid each other’s hair.

Or they’d play that game

where you just lightly with your finger draw letters on each other’s backs

and try to guess the letter.

But the moment that stimulated ASMR

that I saw the most often mentioned

was watching the TV show, Bob Ross’s “Joy of Painting.”

(Laughter)

Now we know Bob Ross was not trying to stimulate people’s ASMR

or cause them to relax.

He was trying to teach you how to paint.

But there are individuals today who are creating ASMR videos

just for the purpose of relaxing their viewers

and helping them to fall asleep more easily.

They’re called ASMR artists,

and they have millions of followers.

Some of them have more followers to their YouTube channel

than Kim Kardashian has to her YouTuve channel.

And what are they doing in these videos?

Well very simply,

they’re sitting close to the camera,

they’re gazing into the lens,

and they’re speaking softly

or they're whispering gently.

They may even be pretending to be a hairdresser

or pretending to be a health care professional

or just speaking softly the way a close friend would to you.

And right now ...

I’d like to introduce you

to some very popular ASMR artists on YouTube.

So lean back,

stretch out your legs.

(Laughter)

And enjoy.

(Video) ASMR Glow: Good.

Good.

One last time.

Great.

(Video) WhispersRed ASMR: So there are lots of different things we need.

Some we would have in our regular spa kit.

Some of them are quite obvious.

(Breathing)

Things like ...

cotton buds ...

and ...

cotton pads.

(Video) Paris ASMR: I’ve brought some tasty tea from Paris.

For you, yeah.

It is called, “Weekend à Paris.”

“Weekend in Paris.”

I think it takes like, um ...

um, rose.

(Video) Gentle Whispering ASMR: Alright.

A bit to the front here.

(Scissors cut)

(Scissors cut)

OK.

Stay still.

(Scissors cut)

(Scissors cut)

Stay to make sure ...

(Scissors cut)

It’s nice and even.

Mhm.

Craig Richard: Now, if you felt deeply relaxed

or maybe you felt those special brain tingles,

you might have been wondering, “What is going on inside my brain?”

Well, we wondered the same thing.

I recently published a brain scan study with Bryson Lochte

and other researchers from Dartmouth College.

And we saw that the brain regions that are activated

while people are watching ASMR videos like these

are the same brain regions that are activated

when people are receiving positive personal attention

from a kind and caring person in the real world.

I’ve also collected data from over 30,000 participants

as part of a research study with Karissa Burnett and Jennifer Allen.

And Jennifer Allen is the woman who coined the term

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response in 2010.

And what we see is that ASMR is experienced

in over 130 different countries.

And the people are reporting the same experience.

They feel deeply relaxed.

They have these special, light brain tingles.

And it’s helping them to fall asleep more easily,

and it’s helping them to reduce their stress.

Even individuals who are diagnosed with anxiety and insomnia

are reporting benefits from watching these ASMR videos

and experiencing ASMR.

Other institutions are also publishing data about ASMR

and they’re reporting similar health benefits.

One study in particular,

from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom,

showed that when people watch ASMR videos,

their heart rates significantly and effectively are reduced.

Now there’s plenty of unanswered questions still.

Like, what might be the brain chemicals that are causing this amazing sensation?

One likely candidate is the neural hormone oxytocin,

and you might have heard of this as “the love hormone.”

It’s already well known

that your oxytocin levels in your brain increase

when anyone gives you positive personal attention

in a kind and caring way.

It's also already known that your oxytocin levels, when they increase,

you’ll feel relaxed,

you’ll feel calmed,

you’ll feel comforted.

Another big question is why doesn’t everyone experience ASMR?

You might have been watching those video clips and been like,

“I didn’t feel any of those amazing brain tingles.

Grrr!”

(Laughter)

Well, it could be that those clips aren’t the ones that work for you.

If you've never felt this experience,

maybe you just haven’t had the right real-world encounter yet.

Or maybe it's determined at birth.

It could be determined by the sequence of your genes related to oxytocin

or other brain chemicals.

Another big question is how do these health benefits of ASMR compare

to the widely reported health benefits of yoga,

of mindfulness,

of meditation?

And how do these health benefits of ASMR compare to the therapeutic pros and cons

of medications used to treat anxiety and insomnia?

And lastly,

will health professionals someday advocate ASMR

as another tool in the toolbox

to help people manage their stress and their sleeplessness?

I don’t have the answer to those questions ...

but I do know one thing.

I know that my vision of a blissful heaven

is Bob Ross greeting me at the pearly gates

and asking me, “Craig, would you like a haircut and an eye exam?”

(Laughter)

(Applause)

(Applause and cheers)