ASMR

ASMR research publication helps ASMR artist to keep his YouTube channel

/ Dr. Richard / 4 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversitySensorAdi (his online identity, not his real name) is an ASMR artist on YouTube. He has been creating and posting ASMR videos on his channel “SensorAdi ASMR” since 2013.

He has posted over 150 soothing videos of himself painting, making gentle brushing sounds, softly scratching and tapping on wood, walking through leaves, and performing relaxing clinical role-plays.

It is obvious from the comments that most of his YouTube followers find his videos helpful for relaxing and falling asleep.  A comment on his most popular video from one viewer reflects the sentiments from most other viewers, “I had to listen to this right before I went to sleep and I am at complete ease and peaceful.”

He told me that one viewer even wrote to him from the hospital to let him know that his videos were helpful to him while he was getting treatment for an infection.

Knowing that his videos are helpful to others is important to SensorAdi, “It is very nice and motivating feeling to me.”

But SensorAdi is not just an ASMR artist, he is also a school teacher in Poland.

He has been teaching High School students (ages 15-19) in his current position for the past 7 years.  I asked him what makes him a good teacher and he replied, “I am honest, authentic.  I am interested in the issues and problems of students.”

Recently though, SensorAdi has had his own issues and problems.

Continue reading →

Part 3: The first peer-reviewed publication about ASMR: Meaning of the data & next steps.

/ Dr. Richard / 7 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityThis is Part 3 of my blog post series on the first peer-reviewed paper about ASMR.

As a refresher, the paper is titled, “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR): a flow-like mental state”.  It was authored by Emma Barratt and Nick Davis and was published on March 26th, 2015 in the journal PeerJ.

This post is going to focus on the meaning of some of the data, as well as highlight how future studies could build on the helpful foundation provided by the authors of this paper.

This post is mostly for students and researchers looking for ASMR research ideas.  Just look for the sections in this post marked “Next steps” for potential ASMR research projects you could do.

Let’s begin by reviewing and understanding the methods and the participants, this will help to keep the overall meaning of the data in an appropriate scope.

Continue reading →

Part 2: The first peer-reviewed publication about ASMR: Significance of the paper

/ Dr. Richard / 6 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityThis is Part 2 of my blog post series on the first peer-reviewed paper about ASMR.

As a refresher, the paper is titled, “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR): a flow-like mental state”.  It was authored by Emma Barratt and Nick Davis and was published on March 26th, 2015.

This post is going to focus on the significance of this first peer-reviewed research paper about ASMR.

Lets begin with asking: what does it mean when a paper is “peer-reviewed?”

Continue reading →

Part 1: The first peer-reviewed publication about ASMR: Summary of the data

/ Dr. Richard / 10 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityThe first peer-reviewed paper about ASMR has been published in the journal PeerJ.

I am highly excited about this event and very proud of the authors of this paper.

The paper is titled, “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR): a flow-like mental state” and is authored by Emma Barratt and Nick Davis. The authors are members of the Department of Psychology at Swansea University in the United Kingdom.

The publication was officially published as a peer-reviewed publication on March 26, 2015, but was initially published as a “PrePrint” on December 18, 2014.

The study was reviewed and approved by the Swansea University Department of Psychology Ethics Committee prior to the initiation of data collection.

This is such an important achievement that I will cover this event in several blog posts. This first post will simply focus on summarizing the data in the publication.

Continue reading →

The first orchestral composition inspired by ASMR

/ Dr. Richard / 1 Comment

Jocelyn Morlock is the Composer in Residence of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada.

She has the admirable distinction of being the first woman composer in residence in the history of this orchestra.

Now she has another terrific distinction – she may be the first person in history to create an orchestral composition inspired by ASMR.

And the title of her musical composition does a wonderful job of evoking ASMR.

Continue reading →

The influence of ASMR on sleep quality: a new and simple tool.

/ Dr. Richard / Leave a comment

One of the best compliments someone can give to a new discovery is, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

I just read about a new research tool which deserves that compliment.

A group of scientists have recently published a paper in the journal PLOS ONE which describes a simple way to measure sleep quality.

Their simple idea could make research studies on the influence of ASMR on sleep quality much easier than current research methods.

This new method is so simple that I can describe it in two words:

Continue reading →

A book about ASMR, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR” has been completed and will be available soon.

/ Dr. Richard / 1 Comment

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityJulie Young and Ilse Blansert have finished writing “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR” which should be available in May.  You will be able to buy it everywhere books and e-books are sold.

Julie is a freelance writer and author, and has previously published The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Catholicism, Historic Irvington, and the young adult novel Fifteen Minutes of Fame.

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

Continue reading →

Can you actually experience “touch” while watching an ASMR video?

/ Dr. Richard / 5 Comments

Sue Dorrens, founder of the “I Love ASMR” facebook page asked me a question related to ASMR videos.

She wondered why our brains perceive a fake stimulus as a real stimulus.

In particular, she wondered why someone can watch a video of someone pretending to touch their head (e.g., hair salon role-play or facial massage role-play) and then have a relaxing response as if someone actually had touched their head.

This is a great question and I have three possible explanations.

Continue reading →

ASMR and the importance of sleep

/ Dr. Richard / Leave a comment

Helping people to fall asleep is one of the most widely reported uses for ASMR videos and ASMR triggers.

This is bad news because it highlights the fact that many people are having difficulty getting the right quantity and/or quality of sleep.

And yet, it is also good news because sleep is so important and ASMR could someday be widely supported by clinicians as a sleep aid.

This post will cover several recent research studies about the recommendations, challenges, and problems related to getting a proper quantity and quality of sleep.

And it will conclude with an example of how someone might construct a research study to demonstrate if ASMR can help improve sleep quality.

Lets begin with this question: Do you know how much sleep you should be getting each night?

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →