Information about Dr Craig Richard Ph.D.
Current status:
- Professor of Biopharmaceutical Sciences
- Shenandoah University, School of Pharmacy
- Winchester, Virginia, USA
Education and Training:
- Ph.D. in Physiology and Cell biology from Albany Medical College in New York
- Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive sciences from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania
Peer-reviewed publication topics:
- ASMR, sepsis and burn injury, immunology of pregnancy, glycobiology of hormones, regulation of cell cycle proteins, pharmacogenomics of medicine, hormonal contraception, and the incorporation of mobile devices into education.
ASMR Awareness & Research:
- 2013: First learned about the term “ASMR” when listening to the “Stuff mom never told you” podcast by Cristen Conger and Caroline Ervin.
- 2014: Initiated and launched the ASMR Research Project with Karissa Burnett and Jennifer Allen.
- 2014: Created this website to encourage and report about ASMR research, and to provide helpful resources to assist with the understanding of ASMR.
ASMR experiences:
- ASMR trigger memories, experiences, and preferences:
- Being touched lightly/groomed
- Watching Bob Ross on TV
- Having hair washed and cut
- Listening to his little sister learning to read
- Hearing specific individuals speak
- Listening to someone whispering
- Listening to slow crinkling or slow tapping
- Watching unboxing videos
- Having lymph nodes palpated by a clinician
- Receiving an eye exam which involves clicking of lens choices
- Description of ASMR experience
- “For me, it feels very similar to the deep relaxing feeling of getting a massage. My brain feels immediately fuzzy, my muscles become fully relaxed, and my body almost feels like it is gently humming in a deeply soothing way. I want to put my head down and enjoy the moment with my eyes closed. Listening to ASMR triggers often helps me to falls asleep.”
- Posted by his mother on Facebook:
- “Not odd that Craig would work on this. As a child, until about 8 years old, I would put him to sleep by gently rubbing the inside of his arm!”
To learn more about ASMR, click “About ASMR”
To learn more about this website, click “About ASMR University”
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ASMR University 
My son is naturally anxious due to Asperger’s. He was getting a bit hyper one visit and I had some chores to do around the house and he told me to go and do what I had to do and he would just relax a bit on my recliner in my living room. When I came back he was streaming Bob Ross on television and I had noticed that his anxiety level had dropped to about zero. That is when I first discovered how some videos on YouTube could evoke a relaxation response. I work in mental health and at the time it was very uncommon for me to go more than one shift without having a fist raised to me. So, to say that I am stressed is a bit of an understatement. I started using my son’s trick to get to sleep at night and I thought, Bob Ross would be a great way to relax and chill and if I was listening to this while drifting off it would clear my thoughts enough for me to fall asleep. Not only did it work, but I started immediately getting these tingling Sensations that started on the back of my head and then went into my upper extremities. I was curious, so I started investigating further and discovered ASMR. I found that some of these videos would give me the same response. It was such a deep relaxation response and very different from all of the other relaxation exercises that I have ever used. And like all other people who have tried ASMR, I’m going to go out there and say that none of this is of a sexual nature. I have noticed different levels of maturity with ASMR sites on the internet and I’m thinking that’s probably where ASMR has gotten a bit of a bad rap. I don’t know if the ASMR response could be described in any other way that is already known through the use of relaxation exercises or mindfulness, but, I do know that there’s something to it. I have found two or three different people who produce ASMR videos either knowingly or unknowingly and they are my go to people. I have never been this relaxed in my life.
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I found the name ASMR while researching binaural and stereo sound recording techniques on line, in Spring 2014. The artist thatASMRchick was linked to a particular topic and she was my introduction.
I always use good headphones and the close whispering I discovered later by several asmrtists, had my eyes opening wide, my eyebrows reaching their highest ever, my chin going down, the back of my neck lengthening and tingles running over my scalp and down my back.
I’d been very low at the time and the effect of the tingle sensation seemed to sweep away all the tension
and replace it with calm.
I continue to enjoy videos but rarely get a strong reaction now. Great for sending me off to sleep though!
I really hope that if I find myself very low again the same tonic will work again.
Could it be that the intimacy and calm of the more effective videos and soundtracks triggers something we remember from early babyhood in the care of our parents, or in childhood from our carers and (some) teachers?
Hey, wouldn’t sight and sound and smell give the full experience! Scratch and sniff baby smells?
Maybe not.
An important by-product for me has been in becoming much more comfortable, in day to day life, in maintaining face to face contact for long periods while listening with interest to another person talking. I remember my children when very young gazing at our faces as we spoke to them. Could be something we lose and rediscover watching ASMR.
One little concern is that having derived pleasure from ASMR, I tried to tell a few other people about it, only to feel I was coming across as a bit creepy! Maybe scientific understanding will give ‘respectability’ to what we have experienced.
Just don’t let anyone try bottling it for commercial gain!
Thanks.
Dave
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