Tingly Sensation on Back of Head when Happy

[pickledantique]

This is not something I am necessarily worried about, but I've just wondered about it my entire life without actually asking anyone.  It sounds bizarre, but I have had a reoccuring sensation along the back of my neck and backside of my head that feels like a tingly or tickly sensation.  This only happens whenever I am in a complacent mood and someone is telling me something.  For some reason, it has occured most often when someone is instructing me on how to do something, usually involving steps.  Go figure on that part.  It happens maybe three times a year, since I was little.  I remember it first happening when my mom would read comic books to me and it happened again in class today when the teacher was happily discussing spreadsheets.  I figure it has something to do with a physical reaction to sudden serotin levels increasing?  Maybe you can shed some light on it.  I sound crazy just reading it back...

[JoiaJ]

It’s something about voices and connection, for me I think :). The tingling is fairly new, but I’ve always been really sensitive to different voices and able to pick them out of a crowd.

What’s interesting is I also get these tingles from *reading* people talking to each other. There was a one-time childhood tingle, I think, when I read “Voyage of the Dawn Treader”: Eustace Scrubb has turned into a dragon and Aslan is *instructing* him to rip away all the layers down to his heart to become human again. I remember feeling vaguely guilty and not really knowing why, but I kept going back to that section :).

[math_teacher]

I thought I could add to these posts, but everyone pretty much covered my experience -- with 2 exceptions.

First, in addition to the usual ways we all experience this phenomenon, I also experience it when I am giving instruction. (I happen to be a high school math teacher.) There are times when the sensation is so overwhelming, I have to sit down. It is never painful, but the first time I had to sit down, I began to wonder if I had a tumor or something.

Second, I am in my early 40's and I have experienced this sensation for as long as I can remember. Now, that is, very recently, I have developed my ability to cause the sensation to occur for sustained periods. These periods can last as long as 20 minutes with a strong sensation, and several hours with a dull sensation.

My theory is there is a tiny muscle inside my brain that, when I activate it, I can experience the sensation. Perhaps this muscle is constricting my blood flow, or enhancing my blood flow, or perhaps this muscle is squeezing the pleasure center in my brain. I'm not sure, but I am convinced it is a muscle. It could be genetic, like the ability to wiggle one's ears.

In any event, I am glad I am not the only one. Thanks for posting, everyone!

[HumbleStudent120]

It is love. You are connecting to the world around you on the most fundamental, misunderstood level.

[eggshaped]

Really glad I found this, I can't believe there are others who experience this! I thought I was just 'weird'.  Here are what triggers it for me:

- when I'm near someone who's concentrating intensely
- when people are explaining something
- men with Malaysian accents
- certain people's voices, specifically when they are softly spoken and the letter 's' is pronounced high pitched
- people with whistling dentures (yes I'm being serious)
- having my hair cut

I have also noticed it with my daughter when she's concentrating on something (i.e. homework/drawing/etc) - can I just add that obviously this isn't remotely sexual - and interestingly, when it occurs she will very often say what I'm thinking or the other way around.  This has happened too many times to be a coincidence.  I think it may be some sort of emotional connection with a person, related to empathy, which may be related to some kind of telepathy in cases where the the person is there with you (as opposed to watching a video).

I'd be interested to know if anyone else has experienced the 'telepathy' side of things.  By the way, this telepathic thing only happens to me with my daughter, never with a stranger or anyone else I know.

Many thanks to Mick1888 for the link to the research on this, I had no idea this had ever been officially recognised.

[fellowtingler]

Hello, I first posted in this thread the best part of 2 years ago, and have been checking it every few months ever since. I just wanted to say, that link which Mick1888 posted above is very useful. I was sceptical to start with & don't normally just click on scientific-sounding links and take them as valuable, but through that site I've found that there is a lot more going on for people interested in this field than I had realised through this and similar threads. It looks like they are trying to put together a proper study on it, which you can volunteer for through the site, and they also pointed me towards some other helpful links:

-Youtube videos recommended to get the feeling: http://www.youtube.com/user/UnnamedFeeling13

-That same guy's blog on the subject: http://theunnam3df33ling.blogspot.com

-The research team's blog: http://blog.asmr-research.org/index.php

-Reddit thread about it: http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/fni64/til_about_asmr_aka_that_unnamed_feeling_or_head/

-Subsequent Reddit recommendations: http://www.reddit.com/r/asmr/

[Mick1888]

THIS IS A REPLY TO ALL YOUR QUESTIONS
This is called ASMR
http://www.asmr-research.org/

There is the website explaining a few things about it!
Hope this helped!

[sparklinghippo]

WOW this is amazing to read! I've wondered about this my whole life, and everyone's trigger's for it are shockingly similar to mine!
The first time I remember noticing it, was when I was 5 or 6. I was drawing a picture, and some adult in the room stood over me to see what I was doing, and seemed impressed by my work. I continued to draw, knowing he was watching happily watching me draw my picture. I ignored him, but I felt great about his appreciation, and that's when the tingles started. I absolutely love this feeling, and try to extend it for as long as possible.
This is the main trigger for me...if someone is watching me do something...but I've also gotten it from seeing a girl I like, or listening to a comforting voice.
So happy to hear I'm not alone. I figured it was just some weird thing that I'd never figure out, or be able to explain to anyone.

[NOne12]

I have been wondering this for a while and also if it can help stress. I like it when ppl whisper - if anyone likes this I encourage you to go to Youtube and type in whisper videos - omg............ happy tingling

[hthekidd]

im amazed i stumbled upon this. just today i had this sensation. it was not the first time but i had it so badly it scared me. i ended up going to the er which they had nothing to say about it. im back at home now feeling fine but till this day i wonder what is going on in my head.

[samzzz]

I was looking this up a few weeks ago as my brother and I have been experiencing this feeling for years.  Someone had asked on another site and one of the many people who have experienced this posted a link to a facebook group on there for people like us.  

They have called it Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response and the link is below:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=325374262638&ref=ts

I don't know if this has been diagnosed by a medical professional so I think the name could be made up by the group creator?? But not 100% on that.    Apparently they are looking into it to find out how it is triggered and will be taking part in some tests for people willing to participate.

[sgtjupiter]

whoo! Does anyone have a medical explanation of this? And what is it even called? It would be cool to find these things out. I would explain it as a euphoric tingly sensation on that back of your head.. almost a cross between 'an orgasm' and 'rubbing goosebumps on your arm'. I find it interesting that "instructions", voices and sounds (for me at least) are what seem to trigger it. The first time i remember feeling it was in kindergarten; our teacher was lecturing our class on acting bad or something. Now it seems the 'hypnotize yourself' videos on youtube do the trick. Its awesome that I found this site, thought i was the only one! : )

[adamjunior]

So weird - but comforting - to know that there are "others" out there!  I've always had this reaction with certain people's voices - male, female, old, young, on t.v., in person - it seems very random, and I think it has something to do with the register/tone of their voices.  It only happens with certain people.  They don't even have to be talking to me - just within ear shot.  I can't say that it's limited to anything instructional - frankly, it's whatever they say.  It's a very peaceful, numbing, tingly sensation that just washes over me and almost puts me in a trance.  I actually look forward to it, but I never know when it's going to happen.  Some kind of energy thing or something...very perplexing.  Thanks to all for posting - I've never known anyone else that understands what it feels like.  And apparently, none of us know what it means or why it happens.

[Lycanthropy]

I just got this tingly ticklish feeling for the first time last night...it started from my eyebrow twitching to the side of my face feeling the tingly tickly thing then to the back and top of my head and then all down my back, it felt really nice but its strange, after that i got this pressure in my head..but not painful. last night i was also wide awake the whole night

[CtrlR]

It is so weird for me to see everyone describing exactly what have felt for as long as I can remember. It is also when someone is showing me how to do something, I figured that out a long time ago. It seems to be with people who are gentle and are sincere in what they are saying.

I used to love it when certain teachers would show me how to do something one-on-one. I wouldn't want them to stop talking because that was when it seemed to be the strongest.

When I mentioned this to other people they would usually look at me like I was crazy. It's great to know that it happens to others as well. I would really like to know the physiology behind it. Or, it may be one of those non-explainable phenomenon that are related to psychic abilities. Who knows? Really... Who knows? I'd like to find out.

[kazekage1992]

I am quite relieved to find that I am not alone in this phenomenon. I was starting to wonder if I was crazy ^^  As for me, I have always had this feeling since I little. Like most of you, instructions and monotone teachers set it off to a great height. It was always brief however. As I got older, I discovered that many other things can induce this wonderful feeling. At times, the feeling encompasses my entire body from head to neck to shoulder and all the way down to my legs and feet. Music and visualization are the most powerful tools for exciting this feeling. And by visualization, I dont mean anything particularly "strange", I just mean picturing something in your head. Visualizing scenes of events of epic proportions and scale and what I consider to be angelic/ascension type music (made my own genre  :)  seems to work the best for me. This may sound ridiculous to some of you, but it works for me and I can control these feelings at will now. It is an incredible feeling when you can control the intensity and bursts. For me its almost like an intremittent wave that comes, lasts for 2 seconds, fades a bit, then comes back strong for 2 seconds and so on, until I can no longer imagine sufficient scenes(fuel) to keep it going. Longest Ive made it last was about 4 minutes( the length of my favorite song :)  

If anyone wants to continue this discussion or ask me any questions(since this forum seems kinda dead :/  feel free to emial me and I can give you tips or we can just talk about it :)

heres my email(dont make fun of it lol...ive had it for a while:

***@****

[calgarymilf]

I always get it from voices. I call it tingly head voice. It's awesome. Watch something like the hour (lots of tingly head voices on that show) and i can be out in a minute.
Also, the sound of someone chewing, water being poured into an ice filled glass does the same thing.
People have called me nuts for years

[tinglersunite]

I'm so glad I stumbled on this.

I've had this feeling since kindergarten (at least). The situation is the same for me (I can't believe this!). Usually, someone is walking me through steps on how to do something. It's a calm, hypnotic (though largely physical sensation).

Here's my two cents: First of all, I've learned to control it. I can't really start it on my own but I can prolong it and sometimes bring it back shortly after its ended. I feel like its very relaxing so I've tried to maintain it in the past. Secondly, I've asked a lot of people about it and never found someone who knew what I was talking about. I suspect this isn't something that happens to everyone- so, are we lucky?

Thanks for writing folks.

[pwsh]

I started having this feeling starting last year. But I get this ticklish or tingling feeling mostly on the crown of my head only when I am sleepy and trying to stay awake. If I don't go to bed immediately, it gets to the point where I can't stand it anymore. Now it is happening more often.. like when I am watching TV.... etc... and the way I get rid of this feeling is by getting some rest which means going to bed.

[fellowtingler]

Hi all,
This is weird, I get the exact same thing, and I too have wondered for years what it was... I guess none of us knows, but it's interesting to find out that other people get it too! It's a brilliant feeling, kind of all over the top/back of my head around my crown, tingly or fizzy. I know what you all mean about the instructions thing - I guess that must be something to do with it. For me, it doesn't have to be necessarily getting instructions, or from someone I know; I always thought it was more to do with watching something done well, seeing someone do something step by step/methodically, and I guess instructions are a part of it too. For example, I agree with the previous poster who said they look forward to going to the doctor or dentist to get this feeling - I always found that, even better than either of those, was the optician. Getting my eyes tested sets it off like nothing on earth, I miss the days when I got my eyes checked free twice a year by the NHS! Another example I remember from youth was a short story by Roald Dahl, I can't remember the title but I think it was in the collection "The Great Automatic Grammatizator", and it was about an expert wine taster... I don't want to give the story away for anyone who might want to read it one day, but there is a part where he describes his process for discerning a wine, and that always gave me this feeling. Something I find great for it now is youtube tutorial videos, and without wanting to sound like I'm plugging it, ExpertVillage on there has at least 5 for anything you can think of... I especially enjoy card tricks, massage techniques, and (rather embarassingly for a young man), make-up tutorials. It definitely helps if the instructor in the video has an accent I enjoy I think.

Oh well, maybe one day we'll find out what it is eh, I like the seratonin idea.
Cheers!

[SlippyMC]

Wow. I have been wondering this for years. The first time I can remember it is when I was about 5 or 6 and my teacher was hovering over my shoulder guiding me on what to do. I get this tingly sensation in my head. I get it a lot at the doctor or dentist too. I can't wait to be operated on because I get that sensation in my head that these people are going to be working on me, I'm not sure why.

[thesolipsist]

Hey this happens to me too. I don't know why I never asked I thought everyone got it. I wish it would happen when boring stuff in school is happening but it doesn't. It only happens when I getting instructions, I remember getting it ever since I was little. I know there isn't suppose to be a physical symptom of serotonin release. I wish I had a way to make it happen consistently when ever I wasn't feeling too good. The closest thing I've found to making it happen on purpose is to watch hypnosis videos. I know your thinking "What?. but something about the instructions sets it off. If your a man watch a video with a woman in it, and opposite if you're a woman.  I also get this feeling if someone I'm sexually attracted to acts dominate towards me. Like a girl tells me to do something with instructions, in a demanding way, but she is saying like she isn't mad but just controlling me. In a good way. I know it sounds weird but...

[rhorton]

You aren't crazy.  I get this too.  It usually only happens with certain people, and like you it's when they are telling or instructing me on a new concept or similar.  There might also be a requirement for me to be in the right (receptive) mood.

I would also be interested to hear what it is exactly that does this.