Biology

Graduate student completes research study about the body map of ASMR sensations

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityJack Stevenson-Smith completed his Masters degree 2 years ago in the School of Psychology at the The University of Liverpool, UK.

He focused his Master’s research dissertation on ASMR and it was titled, “Bodily maps of novel somatosensation: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)”

In my interview with Jack he shares the inspiration for his research, his aims, hypotheses, and methods, the challenges he encountered, some great tips for other ASMR researchers, and his special moment with Dmitri, the ASMR artist known as massageASMR.

Below are my questions in bold and his replies in italics.

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Published research study demonstrates physiological benefits of ASMR

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityA peer-reviewed research study is the first to report physiological changes while individuals experience ASMR.

The publication is titled, “More than a feeling: ASMR is characterized by reliable changes in affect and physiology” and is authored by Giulia Lara Poerio, Emma Blakey, and Theresa Veltri from the University of Sheffield (UK) and Thomas Hostler from the Manchester Metropolitan University (UK).  The research was published June 20, 2018 in the journal PLOS ONE.

The publication reported the results of two studies.  The first study involved about 1000 participants watching videos and reporting how they felt.  The second study involved about 100 participants watching videos, reporting how they felt, and having some physiological responses measured.

I will first summarize the methods and results of the first study, then summarize the methods and results of the second study.

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Graduate student investigates the effects of ASMR videos on the heart rates of Highly Sensitive Persons

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityMelina Delanghe is a graduate student at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Brussels, Belgium. She is pursuing her Master’s Degree in psychology in the Department of Biological & Cognitive Psychology.

For her Master’s Thesis, she decided to do an ASMR research project with Dr. Elke Van Hoof as her faculty advisor.

She investigated the ability of ASMR videos to affect the heart rates of individuals diagnosed as Highly Sensitive Persons and also in a control group.

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Peer-reviewed research publications about Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityHow many peer-reviewed research publications about ASMR currently exist?  The answer is three.

I’ve created this post as a quick resource for anyone looking to learn more about these publications.

Below are the details for each publication, along with links to each publication, summaries of the data, interviews with the authors, and podcast episodes about each publication.

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Science of ASMR: The third peer-reviewed research publication (podcast episode #12)

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian ResponseIn this podcast episode, I will be summarizing the third peer-reviewed research publication about ASMR and sharing an interview with the authors.

The paper is titled, ““An Examination of Personality Traits Associated with Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)”)” and was published in the journal, Frontiers in Psychology on February 23, 2017. The authors are Beverley Fredborg, Jim Clark, and Stephen Smith from the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada.

This podcast episode will cover the following topics:

  • What are the personality traits associated with ASMR-sensitive individuals?
  • What are the most intense ASMR triggers?
  • How they recruited participants and determined ASMR sensitivity.
  • The focus of their next ASMR research publication.
  • and more.

Subscribe to the ASMR University Podcast to hear all of the past and future episodes or listen to this one episode right here:

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Science of ASMR: The second peer-reviewed research publication (podcast episode #11)

/ Dr. Richard / 5 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityIn this podcast episode, I will be summarizing the second peer-reviewed research publication about ASMR and sharing an interview with the authors.

The paper is titled, “An examination of the default mode network in individuals with autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)” and was published in the journal Social Neuroscience on May 31, 2016.  The authors are Stephen Smith, Beverley Fredborg, and Jennifer Kornelsen from the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada.

This podcast episode will cover the following topics:

  • What is fMRI?
  • What did the experiment reveal about ASMR?
  • What challenges did they encounter during this project?
  • What ASMR experiments are on their horizons?
  • and more.

Subscribe to the ASMR University Podcast to hear all of the past and future episodes or listen to this one episode right here:

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Meet the researchers who published the first biological study about ASMR-sensitive individuals

/ Dr. Richard / 8 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityBeverley “Bev” Fredborg recently received her B.Sc. degree in Biopsychology from the University of Winnipeg and will soon be starting a Master’s degree program in Clinical Psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

She is currently a research assistant with Dr. Stephen Smith, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Winnipeg.

I initially interviewed this duo in July of 2015 when they began to work together on an ASMR survey project.

And now I am fortunate to do another interview with them about their very recent and exciting ASMR research publication involving fMRI.

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Dutch biology student and ASMR artist shares her views on the evolutionary origin of ASMR

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityJolien Morren has her Bachelor’s degree in Marine biology and Ecology & Evolution and is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in Biology and Science Communication and Society at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Jolien also creates ASMR videos for her YouTube channel, RelaxingSounds92, and for her blog, Sepiola.

I was very interested in talking with Jolien about ASMR after reading the subtitle of her blog, “Biologist and science communicator in the making, ASMR YouTuber, blogger”.

I knew she would have some valuable biological, evolutionary, and other related thoughts about ASMR.

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Researchers use fMRI to publish first biological study about ASMR-sensitive individuals

/ Dr. Richard / 8 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityIn 2015, Emma Barratt and Nick Davis published the first peer-reviewed research study about ASMR.  Their data were collected from online surveys and were very helpful to provide support about the sensations and potential applications of ASMR.

Now,  Stephen Smith, Beverley Fredborg, and Jennifer Kornelsen from the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada have published the second peer-reviewed research study about ASMR.

A key difference between these two publication is that the more recent publication by Smith et al is the first biological publication about ASMR.

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