3 November 2018 | NewScientist | 35

A

FEW years ago, I sat down in my home

office and clicked through to a YouTube

video. In it, a woman slowly folded towels

on a table, while talking in a gentle whisper.

Almost immediately, a warm, fuzzy tingle

started around the nape of my neck, spreading

across my shoulders and back. Within a

minute, I was in a state of utter relaxation. The

sensation lasted long after I stopped watching.

I have experienced this calming tingle

since I was a child, when my mother would

stroke my back at bedtime. But I never

mentioned it – it just seemed weird.

Then a few years ago, I read an article about

an internet subculture devoted to the “brain

tingles” elicited by videos of people folding

towels or The Joy of Painting – a TV show in

which the host Bob Ross would produce an oil

painting and quietly explain how he did it. Just

reading the descriptions of these videos was

enough to set off the sensation.

Watching someone fold towels may seem

tedious, but that clip has had more than

1,900,000 views. Clearly, I’m not alone.

That got me wondering what was happening

in my brain to elicit these feelings. Do they

serve a purpose? And how many other

people share my ability to easily find a state

of blissful relaxation?

Brain

tingles

Videos of people folding towels or

painting can trigger a mysterious

state of relaxation in some people,

including Michael Marshall.

What’s going on?

“Brain tingles,” or
ASMR, can send you
into a state of bliss.
But what is it?
MADS PERCH/GETTY

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