ASMR Statistics

The best-sourced estimate is about 20%. In 2022, Poerio, Ueda and Kondo surveyed 648 working adults and students about ASMR and synesthesia and reported a prevalence rate for ASMR of approximately 20%. The paper itself notes that nobody definitively knows the population prevalence, and that another study found estimates as high as 47% in a sample of undergraduates.

Treat 20% as a rough figure for working adults and students, not a measured fact about everyone. Who answers a survey changes the result, which is why polls on ASMR websites tend to report much higher numbers than general surveys.

A 2017 study compared 290 people with ASMR to 290 matched controls on the Big Five personality traits. The ASMR group scored higher on openness to experience and neuroticism, and lower on conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness. The authors called the results preliminary.

The 2022 survey also found that 52% of the people who identified as synesthetes were ASMR responders, and that 22% of ASMR responders were synesthetes compared with about 5% of non-responders. Synesthesia is a condition where one sense triggers another, such as seeing colors when hearing sounds.

A 2018 survey of more than 300 people with misophonia, a strong reaction to certain sounds, found that about half also reported ASMR-like tingling sensations with some sounds or sights.

The most cited measurement study is Poerio and colleagues in 2018. It reported that heart rate fell by an average of 3.41 beats per minute in ASMR participants while they watched ASMR videos (3.67 for the standard video and 3.15 for a video they chose themselves), and that skin conductance rose by an average of 0.30 microsiemens. Compared with non-ASMR participants, the extra drop in heart rate was 1.48 beats per minute.

A 2022 study of 38 young adults, 15 of whom were classified as ASMR experiencers, found that heart rate fell during an ASMR video in everyone, whether or not they felt tingles. Depressive feelings dropped only in the people who felt tingles.

These are small effects from small samples. A lower heart rate shows the body relaxed. It does not show that ASMR works better than other ways of relaxing.

A 2018 fMRI study of 10 people who experience ASMR found activation in the nucleus accumbens, a reward-related area, and in areas linked to emotional arousal while they watched ASMR videos. A 2023 study of 30 healthy adults who enjoy ASMR found activity in the amygdala, frontal cortex and insula only for videos they liked.

Neither study measured a brain chemical. fMRI tracks blood flow, so statements that ASMR releases dopamine or activates the vagus nerve are hypotheses. PubMed lists one paper for each topic, and neither measured the chemical or the nerve.

The ClinicalTrials.gov registry lists four ASMR trials as of October 2026. Published trials are small and mostly short:

• A 2025 randomized trial of 78 children having dental treatment compared ASMR, progressive muscle relaxation and standard behavior guidance. ASMR was associated with lower blood pressure and lower anxiety ratings during the injection.
• A 2022 double-blind randomized trial of 76 adults with stress compared ASMR with binaural beats and music for three weeks. Scores for stress, depression, insomnia, anxiety and sleep quality improved in both groups. There was no no-treatment group.
• A 2022 online study of 1,037 adults found that everyone felt more relaxed and in a better mood after an ASMR video. People with insomnia symptoms showed no difference from the control group.
• A 2024 study of 40 people with mild depression combined breathing-relaxation training with ASMR and compared it with a waiting list. The ASMR group improved more, but the study was not randomized and the effect of ASMR alone is unknown.

None of these shows that ASMR treats a condition.

The topic chart on this page shows where the evidence stops. Relaxation, anxiety, stress and sleep have a few small papers each. ADHD, migraine, nausea, panic attacks, tinnitus and OCD have none that mention ASMR together with the topic, so any claim that ASMR helps with them is untested.

Numbers about how long a sound takes to work, which trigger is best, or what percentage of people respond to a specific trigger are also unsupported unless a study is named. We removed unsourced numbers like these from our own pages in 2026.

The topic counts come from PubMed searches for ASMR plus topic words in titles and abstracts, retrieved in October 2026 and refreshed weekly. A paper that mentions both words is not necessarily a study of ASMR for that topic, so a count is a signal of how much attention a topic gets, not of how well something works.

Sample sizes matter more than counts. Several of the studies above have fewer than 100 participants. When you see a percentage about ASMR elsewhere, look for the study, the sample size and who was surveyed before you repeat it.

Our own catalog numbers, such as videos per trigger, describe videos we have classified, not all ASMR on the internet. See our trigger overview for the current counts.