Flores 1

Javier Flores

Judith McCann

English 1302.203

16 February 2022

Is ASMR Effective? (Draft 2)

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, otherwise known as ASMR, is a complicated

emotional state in which only a small percentage of people experience what they hear, see, or

feel particular “triggers,” Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is a great method to help

relax, study, or even sleep. Some of these triggers are whispering, delicate hand movement, or

light contact. The tingling sensation comes in waves and is accompanied by sensations of

exhilaration and relaxation in a “trance-like” immersion state. Autonomous sensory meridian

response (ASMR) is a pleasant sensation such as tapping sounds, hair combing, massage,

whispering and more. The reason why autonomous sensory meridian response is helpful is

because it prevents stress, gives triggers, sleep quality, and productivity.

One thing that autonomous sensory meridian response does is prevent stress. “After

watching a range of ASMR videos, ASMR participants reported more frequent tingling,

increased levels of excitement and calmness, and decreased levels of stress and sadness” (Poerio

8). The reason it decreases the levels of stress is because the human brain releases chemicals

such as endorphins and oxytocin. Another example are medical students that listen to ASMR.

There are Tiktoks and videos of how stress has a huge negative impact on medical students.

What this means is that medical students mainly have “heavy academic pressure and high levels

of stress” (Hardian 1). As medical students listen to ASMR, their brain is able to relax by the
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release of the chemicals that were previously mentioned. Basically, many people, apart from

medical students, listen to ASMR to prevent or reduce stress created by any kind of trigger.

In addition, triggers are the main point in ASMR that gives a tingling sensation

throughout the body. Some triggers are like whispering, tapping, hand movements, hair combing,

light contact, and more. “Soft speaking, hair play/brushing, whispering, and close personal

attention were the most commonly reported triggers” (Poerio 5). These triggers are ones that

make it more tingling and give that sensation.

To continue, sleep quality has improved throughout the experiment. “All subjects have no

history of sleep disturbance or anxiety and history of consuming certain medicines that affect

sleep habits” (Hardian 3). The sleep quality was totally based on a full ASMR experiment and

was being able to be put asleep with just watching ASMR. In fact, ASMR isn’t supposed to

make one uncomfortable. “No subjects in the treatment group have any bad feeling after

watching ASMR video” (Hardian 3).

Lastly, it increases productivity. This helped get multiple tasks to get done in only a

matter of time. Meeting deadlines is hard for a full-time student who takes about six different

classes with a lot of work. It helps also to study, but that is for a different topic. It also helped to

get organized and prepared for anything.

This experiment was started on Friday, February 4, 2022. First, you can do your regular

night routine and get ready to sleep. Next, you can use your television, laptop, tablet, cell phones,

or any internet connected device and go to youtube, which is usually used for this experiment.

Then, look for an autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) video that you would like to

use that sounds amazing to you. In this experiment, the channel that was used was Batala’s
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ASMR. Finally, just close your eyes and just listen to the sounds. This was repeated for five

days. For better quality, use earphones.

The first day, the experiment was hectic because there were so many options to choose

from. There were multiple channels and people doing autonomous sensory meridian response

(ASMR). The second day, it felt a bit more regular and comfortable because a shower was taken

before getting ready for sleep. The third day felt like a routine and was productive the next day.

Multiple assignments were done without effort. It came out naturally and was more comfortable

sitting down and getting something done. The fourth day was similarly to day three. Finally the

fifth day was exciting because it felt like someone could get something done somewhat faster.

The results of this experiment were successful in the category of stress levels, triggers,

sleep quality, and productivity. “The main results of this study was to improving sleep quality

after ASMR stimulation that indicated by significant reduction of PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality

Index) score after 14 consecutive days ASMR stimulation, significant lower PSQI score after 14

days in treatment group and the proportion of subjects who have “good” sleep quality category

was higher significantly in treatment group compare to control group” (Hardian 3). The triggers

were also successful in the aspect of sensations. “Consistent with the idea that ASMR involves

sensations of tingling, ASMR participants reported tingling sensations more frequently than

non-ASMR participants to the sound-based ASMR videos and the spoken-based ASMR videos;

but less so to the control videos (Poerio 6).

Conclusion:

To summarize, ASMR has a huge impact on helping others relax, study, or even sleep. ASMR

was able to reduce stress levels, create tingling sensations, improve sleep quality, and be

productive. As the examples that were presented, medical students were able to reduce stress
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levels and also have a better sleep quality. In the experiment, it was noticed that not only does it

reduce stress levels and improve sleep quality, but also to be productive.
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Works Cited

Hardian, Hardian, et al. “Improvement of Sleep Quality by ... - Medic.upm.edu.my.” Original

Article, Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences,

https://medic.upm.edu.my/upload/dokumen/2020122115235116_2020_1023.pdf.

Poerio, Giulia. “ASMR: What We Know so Far about This Unique Brain Phenomenon – and

What We Don't.” The Conversation, 15 Sept. 2020,

https://theconversation.com/asmr-what-we-know-so-far-about-this-unique-brain-phenom

enon-and-what-we-dont-135106.

Poerio, Giulia Lara, et al. “More than a Feeling: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response

(ASMR) Is Characterized by Reliable Changes in Affect and Physiology.” PLOS ONE,

Public Library of Science,

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0196645.

Wulandari, Noviana Fitri, et al. “Original Article - Medic.upm.edu.my.” Original Article,

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences,

https://medic.upm.edu.my/upload/dokumen/2021100809385805_MJMHS_1104.pdf.