I wrote a recent post about the potential involvement of the neurotransmitter GABA in ASMR.

Well, some scientists have recently published a study which has determined that GABA is responsible for deep sleep.

This means that if ASMR does raise GABA levels, then this neurotransmitter may help to explain how ASMR helps individuals to fall asleep and/or attain a deeper, more satisfying sleep.

The study was published in Nature Neuroscience, which validates the quality and importance of the research.

It is not a real surprise that GABA is involved in sleep.  It has been known for a while that GABA is very good at getting neurons to quiet down.

So what did this study specifically determine?

This study specifically demonstrated the exact location in the brain that was creating the GABA responsible for stimulating deep sleep.

How did they do that?  By creating a molecular “remote control” in which they could turn on these GABA-releasing neurons and make the lab animals zonk out.

Are these GABA-releasing neurons involved in ASMR?

Possibly, but first some researchers would need to determine if experiencing ASMR results in increased deep sleep compared to appropriate controls.

If falling asleep while listening to ASMR-inducing recordings does result in a deeper sleep, then ASMR will sorta be like that molecular “remote control” that caused those lab animals to zonk out.

Click HERE to read a summary about the study (includes a link to the actual article)

Scroll down to Print, Share, Reblog, Like, Jump to related posts, or Comment.

This post brought to you by the ASMR University.  A site with the mission of increasing the awareness, understanding, and research of the Art and Science of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.