[Science of ASMR]

Research group at The University of Sheffield investigating the characteristics of ASMR

/ Dr. Richard / 2 Comments

Giulia Poerio, Theresa Veltri, Emma Blakey, and Tom Hostler are graduate students in the Department of Psychology at The University of Sheffield in the U.K.

They have combined their expertise in psychology, physiology, and emotion to investigate the idiosyncratic characteristics of ASMR.

The research group shares their motivations and several unanticipated challenges and reactions that have occurred thus far with their project.

Below are my questions in bold, followed by their replies in italics.

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ASMR videos: relaxing or creepy?

/ Dr. Richard / 3 Comments

The term “creepy” is often used by individuals to describe ASMR videos which they find disturbing.

This is curious to me.

Why is it that two individuals can watch the same video and one person feels relaxed by it and the other person feels creeped out by it?

And why is the word “creepy” so often used but never the word “frightening”?

There must be something common to a relaxing situation and to a creepy situation that is not common to a frightening situation.

And there is.

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Wooster College student researching the effects of ASMR on social cognition

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Amy Huffenberger is an undergraduate student in the Neuroscience department at Wooster College in Wooster, Ohio.

She is doing her senior thesis project on ASMR, under the guidance of Professor Grit Herzmann Ph.D.

Amy shares her motivations, research objectives and challenges, and also offers insightful suggestions to future ASMR researchers.

Below are my questions in bold, followed by her replies in italics.

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Is ASMR a sensation of love?

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There are many ways to define and describe love.

So I will put forth one possible description just for the sake of this post:

Love is comfort and safety, it is a warm feeling that spreads throughout your body, it is happiness always and euphoria sometimes, it is trust, it is focus, and ultimately it is a state of bliss and relaxation.

That sure sounds a lot like ASMR.

Trying to scientifically define and explain ASMR is a big challenge today.  Trying to scientifically define and explain love has been a big challenge throughout the ages.

But there is at least one dedicated scientist that tried to understand love through experiments, and he was ridiculed for attempting it.

Yet his research findings are considered some of the most important studies ever done, and may help to understand ASMR.

His name was Harry Harlow.

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A primatologist shares her thoughts about the potential biology of ASMR

/ Dr. Richard / 2 Comments

Dr. Amanda Dettmer has her Ph.D. in neuroscience and behavior.

She has been studying the mother-infant bond in rhesus monkeys for over 10 years.

I asked Dr. Dettmer some questions about animal behavior and ASMR.

She did a terrific job of summarizing her knowledge, experiences, and research in primatology and applying it to ASMR.

Dr. Dettmer even suggests some simple experiments that could help to identify the biology of ASMR.

Below are my questions in bold, followed by her replies in italics.

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ASMR research and music therapy research

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Relaxing music and ASMR triggers have their similarities and their differences.

Similarities include: both can induce relaxation, both have strong auditory component, and both can induce a type of chills or tingles.

Differences include: music is almost all auditory (vibrations can be another sensory input method), the type of chills induced are slightly different, and music may have a stronger emotional component.

And then there is the biggest difference of them all.

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Update: Can the light from an ASMR video interfere with sleep?

/ Dr. Richard / 1 Comment

Update:

A research study came out this week that is relevant to one of my prior posts (pasted in below).

This research supports the concern that the light from an electronic device can interfere with sleep.

The study is published in PNAS, a well respected journal.

The authors showed that reading from an iPad (compared to a printed book) increased the time it took to fall asleep, reduced melatonin secretion, and reduced morning alertness.

Click HERE to access the research abstract.

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ASMR data from website polls

/ Dr. Richard / 3 Comments

My co-investigators and I are still collecting data for our on-going ASMR research survey (information about that research survey HERE).

But I do have some data to share from my website polls.

Below are responses from visitors to this site who answered the polls on the “First Time Visitor?” page.  There were 130-161 respondents for each question.

The majority of poll takers:

  • experience ASMR
  • report that ASMR helps them to feel less stressed or helps them to fall asleep
  • have watched over 100 ASMR videos
  • have not created an ASMR video
  • are between 20-39 years old
  • experienced ASMR before the age of 13
  • first learned about the term ASMR in 2013 or 2014
  • did not know other terms for the experience prior to learning the term “ASMR”
  • think ASMR is a real biological response
  • would like to  see more research done about ASMR

If you would like to see the full data from the polls, including which responses were least selected, then keep reading.

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How to measure oxytocin levels during ASMR

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If someone wanted to measure oxytocin levels during an ASMR experience, or compare oxytocin levels in individuals that do experience ASMR vs individuals that don’t experience ASMR – how would that be done?

There are two methods for directly measuring oxytocin.

The first method would be to measure the oxytocin in a person’s brain and spinal fluid.  The upside of this method is that these levels are probably most accurate for any effects oxytocin may be having on behavior.  The downside of this method, as you might have guessed, are the safety issues and expenses with doing this.

The second method would be to measure the oxytocin in a person’s blood.  The upside of this second method is increased safety and decreased costs compared to trying to access someone’s brain and spinal fluid.  The downside of this second method is that it is not known if the oxytocin measured in someone’s blood is an accurate reflection of the oxytocin in someone’s brain and spinal fluid.

Until now.

A recent research study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry has determined if blood levels of oxytocin are an accurate measurement of brain and spinal fluid levels of oxytocin.

The study also looked to see if the levels of oxytocin were associated with anxiety.

What did they find?

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