Well. I started getting ASMR or Empathic Enlightenment as I called it, since the late 70’s. At a family gathering in ’79, I spoke with an old hippie Artist, a Painter, a friend of my mothers, who told me it was “Enlightenment”. Empathy for a moment shared he said. He too, was inflicted with the ability, and spoke in a hushed tone about it, Bob Dylans “Hurricane” played in the background, as he told me about the metaphysical and artistic side of life. I never forgot that night, and “Hurricane” is still my favourite song.

Wow similar and different from me. I listened to ASMR every night for about 6 months when I felt tingles for the first time. It was for probably less than 2 seconds, then a month or two passes before it happens again. But it is happening more often but still randomly. Some weeks I do not get the feeling, other times it is multiple times a week. But every time it is for less than 3 seconds. I am questioning if it is just pins and needles but feels nice because the asmr is so soothing. But you are the first person I have found who had a “delayed” experience. My brain might just be making this up due to my repeated listening and intense research into the subject.

I was not a loser or social outcast. I had many friends but just preferred sci-fi and geeky interests to school politics. I had loving parents. I have had MANY positive interactions and attention. So I am still curious why certain interactions that seem identical will cause it and others wont. I have searched for years trying to understand the difference.
And while the sensory things CAN aid in the effect, and the videos can work, unlike the other times, it is only if I allow it to because I can recall the sensation and somehow tap into it based on associated memories. The whispers to me are part of this because for me it meant someone cared enough to share something special with me. Same with the hair sensations. I felt special/loved when people did my hair. Therefore getting my hair cut or washed by a hairdresser will not usually cause it on its own other than the fact that I have had decades to tap into similar memories and call it up.

On 12 March 2012, Steven Novella, Director of General Neurology at the Yale School of Medicine, published a post about ASMR on his blog Neurologica. Regarding the question of whether ASMR is a real phenomeonon, Novella said "in this case, I don't think there is a definitive answer, but I am inclined to believe that it is. There are a number of people who seem to have independently experienced and described" it with "fairly specific details. In this way it's similar to migraine headaches – we know they exist as a syndrome primarily because many different people report the same constellation of symptoms and natural history." Novella tentatively posited the possibilities that ASMR might be either a type of pleasurable seizure, or another way to activate the "pleasure response". However, Novella drew attention to the lack of scientific investigation into ASMR, suggesting that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation technologies should be used to study the brains of people who experience ASMR in comparison to people who do not, as a way of beginning to seek scientific understanding and explanation of the phenomenon.[39][40]


I’m glad that it’s at least showing up for you occasionally. It certainly seems to affect people differently and it’s an incredibly strange, though wonderful, phenomenon. I don’t pretend to understand it fully myself, and haven’t done research on it other than to check if it’s harmful, which from what I’ve seen doesn’t seem to be an issue. My reactions seem to have gotten more intense lately, sometimes to the point of having to pause the video for a short while in order to calm it down a bit.
NBC News: "Why some researchers say 'brain tingles' could be the next big trend in relaxation" — "Have you ever felt a static-like or tingling sensation on the top of your head when someone brushes your hair or whispers to you? The feeling may travel down your arms and your spine, and it likely makes you feel very relaxed. Some call it a 'sparkly' feeling, and it might happen when you hear someone crinkle a piece of paper or when someone traces a word on your back.
One category depends upon external triggers in order to experience the localized sensation and its associated feelings, which typically originates in the head, often reaching down the neck and sometimes the upper back. The other category can intentionally augment the sensation and feelings through attentional control, without dependence upon external stimuli, or 'triggers', in a manner compared by some subjects to their experience of meditation.[citation needed]
The 21-year-old woman behind ASMR Darling, a YouTube channel with more than two million subscribers, said she goes only by her first name, Taylor, because she has experienced stalking and a public doxxing that made her fear for her safety. She said she made her first video when she was a teenager. “Being that young and being sexualized like that, it wasn’t a good confidence boost,” she said.

Try out a few of the most popular ASMRists (as they're known) on YouTube, like Ilse of TheWaterWhispers, Maria of GentleWhispering, or Taylor of ASMR Darling. Each of these channels covers a range of triggers and, while some videos last upwards of 30 minutes, most ASMR enthusiasts report tingling after only a few minutes of concentrating on the sounds.
From the tongue-clicks of Janelle Monae’s ‘Make Me To Feel’ to the crunchy bite of an apple that punctuates Superorganism’s ‘Something For Your M.I.N.D’ (surely the quintessential ASMR song?), via actual Macca munching carrots on The Beach Boys’ ‘Vegetables’ and the general click-fest that is the Soulwax remix of Metronomy’s ‘Love Letters’,  step this way to ASMR nirvana.
The vast majority of people who seek out ASMR do so as a method of relaxation, according to the 2015 Swansea University study, which found that 98% of participants turned to ASMR for this purpose. 82% of participants reported using ASMR as a sleep aid, and 70% said ASMR helps them feel less anxious. Other participants reported ASMR eased their symptoms of depression, boosted their mood, and brought relief for chronic pain. Beyond this study, some people have even said that ASMR acted as a form of therapy to help them work through trauma.
Have you ever felt a static-like or tingling sensation on the top of your head when someone brushes your hair or whispers to you? The feeling may travel down your arms and your spine, and it likely makes you feel very relaxed. Some call it a “sparkly” feeling, and it might happen when you hear someone crinkle a piece of paper or when someone traces a word on your back.
Emotionally, Kelly and Daniel seem equipped to deal with this backlash (Aoki Hunnicutt remains blissfully unaware of any negativity, and also much else about YouTube fame – at one point during our interview, she asks with concern, “Mummy, I thought we were going to do an interview?”). Yet while they are fine with their fame, it may trouble the young stars to lose it.
Finally something to explain my “photocopier man” feeling which has been a standard joke in our family. I first discovered this feeling when I was a teenager working in an office where a repair man would come regularly to maintain the photocopier and I would experience this sensation of well-being while he was working. It was in a fairly small office and usually he would clean the screen with an acetone base cleaner so I always thought that the fumes from that created a mini “high”. I have had it at various times usually when there is someone repairing something in the office eg putting data cables, fixing sockets etc. I now work in a research lab and have had it when participants are in another room being tested with senors on their heads and I have no visual or auditory input from them just the sense of them being there. I have had it to a lesser extent from acupuncture and find massage of any kind extremely unpleasant. It’s nice to find out that it’s not just me that has this strange feeling for no apparent reason.
"Sounds that trigger ASMR are always low volume and are usually steady, rhythmic, and predictable," says Craig Richard, Ph.D., founder of the site ASMR University and author of Brain Tingles. "Our brains interpret sounds with these traits as non-threatening, which can induce relaxation—especially when incorporated with personal attention and caring behaviors."