[Science of ASMR]

Participate in a research study that investigates the effects of the sound vs visual components of ASMR triggers.

/ Dr. Richard / 3 Comments

How does the response to an ASMR trigger change if it is sound only?  Visual only? Or a mix of Sound and Visual?

In this study, you will be asked about your prior ASMR and misophonia experiences, and then you will share your reactions to three ASMR stimuli types; acoustic (no video, only sound), visual (no sound, only video), and audiovisual (both).

This study is being conducted by Pauline Becker, a college student pursuing her B.Eng. in media engineering at Hochschule Düsseldorf in Düsseldorf.  Her faculty advisor is Prof. Dr. Jochen Steffens.

Her thesis is titled: “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response: The impact of acoustic, visual and audiovisual triggers in comparison”

Pauline is looking for participants to take her online survey. The survey is open to individuals of any age who experience ASMR.  The survey is fully anonymous, will take about 15 minutes to complete, and the results will only be used for academic purposes.

Below is a link to the survey and more info. Continue reading →

Participate in a research study about ASMR, misophonia, perception, emotion, and personality.

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Sounds like whispering and tapping can induce relaxation (like ASMR) or annoyance (like misophonia) in the listener.  The variety of these different responses to the same triggers is not well understood.

During this study, you will listen to a variety of sounds and rate how each one makes you feel.  You will also complete some questionnaires on general sensory sensitivity, emotional reactivity, and personality traits.  Your participation in this study may require 30-60 minutes.

This study is being conducted by student researcher Dodi Swan-Capper, post-doctoral research fellow Dr. Nora Andermane, and student researcher Mathilde Bauer.

The study is being supervised by Dr. Jamie Ward, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, from the School of Psychology, University of Sussex, and has been approved by the Sciences & Technology Cross-Schools Research Ethics Committee

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Participate in a research study about ASMR and immersive technology

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How important is immersion for the #ASMR experience?

The aim of this study is to use immersive technology and test your responses.  You will watch or listen to a selection of recorded content and answer questions about how you feel.

Adult ASMR experiencers are welcome to participate in this 20 minute study, which has been reviewed and approved by the Bath Spa University Ethics Committee

Being in a quiet place and using headphones are required for the best experience.  You will also have a chance to win a 25 or 50 $/£ voucher for Etsy/Amazon in an optional raffle at the end.

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Participate in a research study about ASMR, animated videos, and well-being

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Be the first to try out bespoke animated ASMR videos in a new collaboration between Norwich University of Arts, University of Essex, ASMRplanet & StudioGoblin.

The aim of this study is to test the effect of various animated videos on inducing ASMR and generating feelings of well-being.

ASMR experiencers and non-experiencers are welcome to participate in this 20 minute study, which has been reviewed and approved by the Norwich University of Arts Ethics committee.

Headphones are required for best experience, and you will also have a chance to win one of 20 £50 Amazon UK Vouchers.

Continue reading →

Global ASMR survey by Deezer uncovers helpful data about ASMR

/ Dr. Richard / 1 Comment

ASMRU - white box - JPGDeezer is an online audio platform with a catalog of more than 90 million songs, playlists, podcasts and radio channels.

They recently launched two ASMR-related projects, ASMR Sessions (press release) and an ASMR Global Survey (press release).

ASMR sessions, the first project, was the re-creation of top hits by top artists into ASMR-style fusions.  Participating artists (and their re-created ASMR-stylized song) included

  • Alicia Keys (Fallin’)
  • James Blunt (You’re Beautiful)
  • Sir Tom Jones (What’s New Pussycat)
  • Ava Max (Kings and Queens)
  • YUNGBLUD (Parents).

I was fortunate to be able to work with Deezer as they produced these ASMR/Music fusion tracks.  Each musical artist, as well as the Deezer audio engineers, did a wonderful job of transforming these hit songs into ASMR-style experiences.  You can listen to these reimagined ASMR fusion songs HERE.

The rest of this article will focus on Deezer’s second ASMR project, the ASMR Global Survey.  I also worked with Deezer on the creation of the survey and the data summaries.  I’ll share the survey methods and general findings below.

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Participate in a research study about ASMR, mindfulness, and unusual sensory experiences

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Viktoria Venkatess is a student, pursuing a BSc. in Psychology at the University of Southampton, UK.

Her research project is investigating the experiences of watching ASMR videos and mindfulness, and is titled, “Exploring the link between mindfulness and unusual sensory experiences in people who experience ASMR”

Viktoria’s faculty advisor for the study is Dr. Emma Palmer-Cooper, Lecturer at University of Southampton, UK.

Viktoria is looking for participants to take her online survey, which has been reviewed and approved by the University of Southampton Research Ethics Committee (ERGO: 64395)

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Participate in a research study about ASMR and interpersonal space

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Adela Bodasca is an undergraduate student, pursuing a BSc in Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK.

Her research project is investigating if the distance we keep from other people, called interpersonal space, is affected by the experience of ASMR.

Adela’s faculty supervisor for the study is Dr Flavia Cardini, Senior lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University.

Adela is looking for participants to take her online study, which has been reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the School of Psychology and Sport Science (SREP), at Anglia Ruskin University (approval code: PSY-S19-025).

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PhD candidate shares pilot data about ASMR, anxiety, and pain

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Josephine Flockton is a recent graduate from the University of York, England, with a master’s degree in neuroscience and neuroimaging.  She is now pursuing her PhD in cognitive neuroscience.

Her PhD research thesis aims to be the first to explore what happens in the brain during an ASMR experience using the neuroimaging technique of magnetoencephalography (MEG), to further the understanding of ASMR and pain circuits in the brain.

In August, 2020 she launched a pilot survey to support the rationale of her PhD research which will begin October, 2021.  The pilot survey collected data regarding ASMR trigger preferences, frequency of use, and its potential impact on the daily lives of those who experience it, as well as on their anxiety and pain levels.

The pilot survey was granted ethical approval from The University of York Ethics Committee, was created using Qualtrics, and was posted on ASMRUniversity.com and Reddit.com (via a subreddit category for people who enjoy taking surveys and experience ASMR).

Josephine has graciously shared the results from her pilot survey.  Below are the number of respondents, the survey questions, and the survey responses.

Continue reading →