What is autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)? A narrative review and comparative analysis of related phenomena

Mahady, Aidan; Takac, Marcel; Foe, Alexander De

doi:10.1016/j.concog.2023.103477

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 158 publications

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“…Such a propensity could explain high correlations between misophonia, ASMR, and musical chills reactions, however the pattern of correlations in Table S3 suggests this is probably not the case, given that reactions do not correlate with arousal or valence scores for ASMR and musical chills videos. ASMR reactions were negatively predicted by ASMR valence (r(276)=-.19, BF10=10.12), and positively predicted by ASMR arousal (r(276)=.32, BF10=227,914.89), which stands in contrast to reports in the literature that ASMR is usually experienced as pleasant and relaxing [32][33][34]. These results suggest that at least some participants in our sample had misophonic reactions to some or all ASMR videos, a possibility we explore below (Exploratory Analysis).…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 87%

Misophonia reactions in the general population are correlated with strong emotional reactions to other everyday sensory-emotional experiences

Mednicoff,

Barashy,

Vollweiler

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Although misophonia may be a diagnosable disorder, misophonic reactions are common in the general population, and they may shed light on everyday emotional reactions to multi-modal stimuli. We performed an online study of a non-clinical sample to understand the extent to which adults who have misophonic reactions are generally reactive to a range of audio-visual emotion-inducing stimuli. We also hypothesized that musicality might be predictive of one’s emotional reactions to these stimuli because music is an activity that involves strong connections between sensory processing and meaningful emotional experiences. Participants completed self-report scales of misophonia and musicality, and watched videos meant to induce misophonia, autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), and musical chills, and responded by clicking a button when they had any sort of emotional reaction. At the end of each video, they rated the emotional valence and arousal of the video. Reactions to misophonia videos were predicted by reactions to ASMR and chills videos, which could indicate that the frequency with which individuals experience emotional responses varies similarly across both negative and positive emotional contexts. Musicality scores did not correlate with measures of misophonia. These findings could reflect a general phenotype of stronger emotional reactivity to meaningful sensory inputs.

show abstract

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 87%

Misophonia reactions in the general population are correlated with strong emotional reactions to other everyday sensory-emotional experiences

Mednicoff,

Barashy,

Vollweiler

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Such a propensity could explain high correlations between misophonia, ASMR and musical chills reactions; however, the pattern of correlations in electronic supplementary material, table S3 suggests that this is probably not the case, given that reactions do not correlate with arousal or valence scores for ASMR and musical chills videos. ASMR reactions were negatively predicted by ASMR valence (r 276 = −0.19, BF 10 = 10.12) and positively predicted by ASMR arousal (r 276 = 0.32, BF 10 = 227 914.89), which stands in contrast to reports in the literature that ASMR is usually experienced as pleasant and relaxing [32][33][34]. These results suggest that at least some participants in our sample had misophonic reactions to some or all ASMR videos, a possibility we explore below (Exploratory Analysis).…”

Section: (A) Planned Analysis: Correlationscontrasting

confidence: 81%

“…ASMR is a relaxed state in which individuals experience tingling, typically across the back of the head and shoulders, in response to certain stimuli. However, unlike misophonia, these responses are described as relaxing and positive, often accompanied by tingling that starts in the head and moves down towards the extremities [31][32][33]. Common ASMR triggers overlap with misophonia triggers like chewing, breathing and tapping, but they include others that are more unique to ASMR like origami folding, hair brushing and pouring of liquid [34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Misophonia reactions in the general population are correlated with strong emotional reactions to other everyday sensory–emotional experiences

Mednicoff,

Barashy,

Vollweiler

et al. 2024

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Misophonic experiences are common in the general population, and they may shed light on everyday emotional reactions to multi-modal stimuli. We performed an online study of a non-clinical sample to understand the extent to which adults who have misophonic reactions are generally reactive to a range of audio-visual emotion-inducing stimuli. We also hypothesized that musicality might be predictive of one's emotional reactions to these stimuli because music is an activity that involves strong connections between sensory processing and meaningful emotional experiences. Participants completed self-report scales of misophonia and musicality. They also watched videos meant to induce misophonia, autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) and musical chills, and were asked to click a button whenever they had any emotional reaction to the video. They also rated the emotional valence and arousal of each video. Reactions to misophonia videos were predicted by reactions to ASMR and chills videos, which could indicate that the frequency with which individuals experience emotional responses varies similarly across both negative and positive emotional contexts. Musicality scores were not correlated with measures of misophonia. These findings could reflect a general phenotype of stronger emotional reactivity to meaningful sensory inputs. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Sensing and feeling: an integrative approach to sensory processing and emotional experience’.

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Personality-related characteristics of artists creating Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) videos and their role in evoking ASMR sensation in others

Lohaus,

Dutschke,

Thoma

2024

Curr Psychol

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What is autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)? A narrative review and comparative analysis of related phenomena

Cited by 6 publications

References 158 publications

Misophonia reactions in the general population are correlated with strong emotional reactions to other everyday sensory-emotional experiences

Misophonia reactions in the general population are correlated with strong emotional reactions to other everyday sensory-emotional experiences

Misophonia reactions in the general population are correlated with strong emotional reactions to other everyday sensory–emotional experiences

Personality-related characteristics of artists creating Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) videos and their role in evoking ASMR sensation in others

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