From touch to tingles: Assessing ASMR triggers and their consistency over time with the ASMR Trigger Checklist (ATC)

Conscious Cogn. 2023 Oct 9;115:103584. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103584. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTAutonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a term describing a complex sensory-perceptual phenomena characterised by relaxing and pleasurable scalp tingling sensations. A central defining feature of ASMR is that the sensation is elicited by a core set of stimuli or so-called "triggers". The idea that ASMR is triggered by specific external stimuli is frequently invoked in conceptual definitions of ASMR and implicit in its operationalisation as a trait and state; however, it is rarely explicitly measured. In this paper, we present the 37-item ASMR Trigger Checklist (ATC), a new tool to assist researchers in ASMR-responder identification and to capture individual differences in the number and intensity of ASMR triggers across auditory (vocal, non-vocal), visual, and tactile/interpersonal stimulus domains. The ATC is related to existing measures of trait-ASMR that tap into the sensations and phenomenological aspects of the experience (ASMR-15 and AEQ) and provides a complementary assessment for researchers interested in common ASMR elicitors. Importantly, the ATC addresses concerns regarding the over-reliance of audio-visual ASMR stimuli in existing measures and conceptualisations of ASMR by emphasising tactile and interpersonal stimuli. Physical touch to the body was both the most endorsed (98%) and intense (average 5/6) ASMR trigger. 24 of the 37 ATC items were endorsed b...

Source: Consciousness and Cognition - October 11, 2023 Category: Neurology Authors: Giulia L Poerio Angelica Succi Tom Swart Vincenzo Romei Helge Gillmeister Source Type: research