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Grandmother begins new journey as creator of ASMR videos

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Elena Jdanova was born in Moscow, Russia (USSR back then), graduated from Moscow State University with a B.S. Degree in paleontology, and now resides in California, USA.

Her resume already includes experiences as an Indian dance instructor, ceramicist, massage therapist, and an author of two books.

Now, at the age of 62 years and as a loving grandmother to a couple of grandchildren, Elena has decided to start a new journey – she is creating ASMR videos on her new YouTube channel called Grandmother’s Tales.

So what do you get when you combine a Russian grandmother and an ASMR content creator?  Someone who has a lifelong understanding of positive personal attention (also called “doting” in grandmother-speak) and communicates it with a delightful Russian accent.

In my interview with Elena she explains her inspiration to create ASMR videos, how being a grandmother influences her content, her challenges encountered so far with creating ASMR videos, and reactions to her videos from family, friends, and strangers.

Below are my questions in bold, her replies in italics, and links to her ASMR video channel, gardening video channel, and published books.

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“Brain Tingles”, the first how-to guide for stimulating person-to-person ASMR

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I’m happy to share that my book “Brain Tingles” has recently been published by Simon & Schuster and is now available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The focus of the book is to help individuals learn the types and key principles of ASMR triggers for stimulating person-to-person ASMR.  The book covers how to use light touch, gentle sounds, soothing voices, and calming activities to bring the blissfulness of ASMR to people in your life.

The book is also filled with quotes from ASMR artists, quotes from those who experience ASMR, and references to ASMR research findings –  tying together the practice, experience, application, science, and hypotheses about ASMR.

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Jimmy Kimmel features ASMR on late night talk show

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityJimmy Kimmel explored the curious world of ASMR videos – with the help of kids.

This week, his late night show on ABC featured a 5 minute segment of him talking to kids about ASMR.  The kids explained ASMR and they watched ASMR videos together.

I thought the kids did a great job of explaining ASMR, with enjoyable moments of amusement between the host and the kids.

I’ve added Jimmy Kimmel to my growing list below of almost 50 actors, musicians, and other well know individuals who have discussed ASMR or attempted to create ASMR triggers.

Scroll down the list below and tap on Jimmy Kimmel’s name to watch his funny ASMR round table with the kids, and tap any of the other famous names to see how they are exploring ASMR.

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Renee Frances publishes the first ASMR-inspired children’s book

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityRenee Frances is a children’s book author who has written the first children’s picture book to incorporate ASMR, titled “Avery Sleeps More Readily: A whispered Good Night Fairy book.”

Incorporating ASMR triggers into the content and process of reading a child a bedtime story is a fantastic idea.   Common ASMR triggers like personal attention, whispering, soft voices, light touch, picture tracing, gentle hand movements, page turning, and caring behaviors are typical stimuli that can occur when a parent or caretaker reads a child a bedtime story.

It is even possible that the origins of ASMR are rooted in most caring behaviors that happen between children and their caretakers.  Renee’s book not only reminds readers about incorporating these soothing behaviors at bedtime, but provides optimal techniques and content to help readers lull a child to sleep with a bedtime story.

The illustrations are beautifully done by Romaine Tacey and I was provided the great honor of writing the foreword.  The book will be available on Amazon on August 8, 2018, but in the meantime you can access a digital copy via the link at the end of this article.

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New museum exhibit features ASMR videos

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityASMR videos will be one of several video genres featured in a new museum exhibit titled, “The New Genres: Video in the Internet Age.”

The exhibit is focusing on the following new video genres which have appeared over the last two decades: vlogs, Let’s Play videos, Unboxing videos, and ASMR videos.

Specific videos of each genre will be highlighted because they have been considered to be “significant, influential, and representational of these videos.”

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High school student investigating the effect of ASMR videos on teen anxiety and depression

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityChristian S. is a junior high school student in New York.  He is enrolled in an Advanced Placement course and has decided to do a research project about ASMR.

His research question is: “To what extent does Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) impact the levels of anxiety and depression in teens?”

He has created a survey for teenagers to investigate the relationship between watching ASMR videos and mental health.

Christian created questions about ASMR and also incorporated standardized questions from the Becks Depression Inventory and the Becks Anxiety Inventory to help him compare his results to other published results.

His survey is anonymous, specific for teenagers, and will remain open for about the next week.

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Filmmaker completes production of the ASMR-inspired movie, “3AMASMR”

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityIn 2016, I posted an article that began, “Filmmaker begins production of the ASMR-inspired movie.”

Good news.  The movie is done and available for all to view.

The movie was created by Mike Reed who lives in Denmead, UK.   Mike also creates ASMR videos for his YouTube channel, “ASMR Show”

The working title of his movie was, “P.A.I.N.” and is now released as “3AMASMR” or you can think of the title as “3 am ASMR.”

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Interview with Dr Agnieszka Janik McErlean – lead author of the research study on ASMR triggers, personality, and empathy

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityDr Agnieszka Janik McErlean is the lead author of the publication, “Assessing individual variation in personality and empathy traits in self-Reported Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.”

At the time of the publication she was a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at James Cook University in Singapore.  In January 2018, she will be a Senior Lecturer in the Dept of Psychology at Bath Spa University in the UK.

Dr Janik McErlean co-authored the paper with Dr Michael Banissy and the research was published March 30, 2017 in the journal Multisensory Research.

In my interview with Dr Janik McErlean she shares how she became interested in researching ASMR, the goals and methods of her study, the insights she uncovered about ASMR triggers, and her findings about the personality and empathy traits of ASMR responders.

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Dr. Diego Garro presents ASMR paper at London conference

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityDr. Diego Garro is a Senior Lecturer at Keele University in the United Kingdom. He has a BSc in Electronic Engineering, an MSc in Digital Music Technology, an MA in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and a PhD in Composition.

In 2015, I interviewed Dr. Garro about his translated summary of Alejandro Navarro Expósito’s Spanish-language dissertation, “Neuropsychological and neurophysiological characterization of ASMR”.

Dr. Garro has continued his interest in ASMR by writing a paper titled, “ASMR – from internet subculture to audiovisual therapy” and presenting it at the 2017 Electronic Visualization and the Arts conference in London.

In my interview with Dr. Garro he shares how he became interested in studying ASMR, the goals of his paper, reactions to his conference presentation, and tips for others doing ASMR presentations.

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