Tossing and turning, we’ve all had those restless nights. Some people turn to music or counting down to help them relax and others turn to another form of relaxation, ASMR. 

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It generally is stimulating sensory content that gives a person a tingling sensation from the top of the head to the top of the spine. The sensation is caused by different triggers like whispering, slow movements, personal attention, etc. It can cause the person watching to feel relaxed and in some cases, fall asleep.

It was first researched in 2007 when an online forum discussed what they experienced when listening to these noises. In 2010 the experience these people described got a name, ASMR created by Jennifer Allen. It took off in 2013 when more and more YoutTube channels were being made for the sole purpose of ASMR. Many have questioned why people listen to it and if it actually works. To understand why people like or don’t like ASMR, we must understand what it actually is.

Triton student Emily Quijada says she enjoys ASMR and has listened to it before.

“I remember listening to it because I couldn’t go to sleep but when I listened to it, it actually helped a lot,” said Quijada. 

There have been studies on whether ASMR actually works or not. The website nebraskamed.com did its own testing. 

“Does ASMR stimuli provoke a physiological response in brain activity and in the body, then yes, there is some empirical evidence that it does,” said David Warren a neuroscience researcher at Nebraska Medical Center. Technically ASMR does trigger some sort of response from the body but that doesn’t mean it’ll work in changing your mood or mental health. 

According to Triton student Jean-Michael Ramos, he doesn’t like listening to ASMR and finds it meaningless. 

“Why would I listen to it, it’s just making noises,” said Ramos. People are skeptical of the idea of why ASMR is so popular and if it actually works.

Although ASMR has picked up traction, there are still those who are not fans like Ramos or others who perhaps don’t like the feeling of whispering, etc. Could it be that ASMR actually works or not depends on the person listening to it. If you want to find out if listening to it could actually help you listen to it, you should give it a try. The top three ASMR artists are Gibi ASMR, TingTing, and Gentle Whispering according to manofmany.com. Try listening to some different ASMR artists and from there you can form your own opinion if ASMR does what people say it does.