Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a phenomenon characterised by a static-like tingli... more Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a phenomenon characterised by a static-like tingling sensation spreading from the scalp and neck to the periphery in response to a variety of audio, visual, and tactile triggers resulting in a highly relaxed state and boosted positive affect. The limited literature on this phenomenon points to a potential of ASMR to alleviate pain. Emerging evidence also suggests that ASMR may be linked to increased sensory sensitivity more broadly. This study aimed to objectively address these claims by administering an algometer (measure of pain tolerance), and a visual analog scale (VAS) (measure of subjective pain sensitivity) to ASMR experiencers and controls at baseline, following an ASMR video, and a control video. Findings indicate that ASMR experiencers have a higher pain sensitivity than controls; however, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of pain tolerance. In addition, any potential analgesic properties associated with ...
Supplemental material, SUPPLEMENTAL for Relationship between Parenting Style, Alexithymia and Agg... more Supplemental material, SUPPLEMENTAL for Relationship between Parenting Style, Alexithymia and Aggression in Emerging Adults by Agnieszka B. Janik McErlean and Li Xian Crystal Lim in Journal of Family Issues
Supplemental material, Anonymous_data for Relationship between Parenting Style, Alexithymia and A... more Supplemental material, Anonymous_data for Relationship between Parenting Style, Alexithymia and Aggression in Emerging Adults by Agnieszka B. Janik McErlean and Li Xian Crystal Lim in Journal of Family Issues
Synesthesia is a rare condition in which one property of a stimulus (e.g., shape) triggers a seco... more Synesthesia is a rare condition in which one property of a stimulus (e.g., shape) triggers a secondary percept (e.g., color) not typically associated with the first. Work on synesthesia has predominantly focused on confirming the authenticity of synesthetic experience, but much less research has been conducted to examine the extent to which synesthesia is linked to broader perceptual differences. In the research reported here, we examined whether synesthesia is associated with differences in color and motion processing by comparing these abilities in synesthetes who experience color as their evoked sensation with nonsynesthetic participants. We show that synesthesia for color is linked to facilitated color sensitivity but decreased motion sensitivity. These findings are discussed in relation to the neurocognitive mechanisms of synesthesia and interactions between color and motion processing in typical adults.
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a self-reported multi-sensory phenomenon described... more Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a self-reported multi-sensory phenomenon described as a pleasant tingling sensation, triggered by certain auditory and visual stimuli, which typically originates at the back of the head and tends to spread throughout the whole body resulting in a relaxed and sedated state. Despite growing reports of ASMR there is a lack of scientific investigation of this intriguing phenomenon. This study is the first to examine whether self-reported ASMR is associated with individual differences in personality characteristics compared to general population. To do so we administered the Big Five Inventory (BFI) and the Inter-Personal Reactivity Index (IRI) to a group of individuals reporting to experience ASMR and a matched control group. Our findings showed that ASMR self-reporters scored higher on Openness to Experience and lower on Conscientiousness measures of BFI. They also showed greater scores on Empathic Concern and Fantasizing subscale of IRI. ...
Background Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a cross-sensory phenomenon characterise... more Background Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a cross-sensory phenomenon characterised by a static-like sensation which typically originates on the scalp and spreads throughout the body leading to a state of deep relaxation. It can be triggered by visual and auditory stimuli in real life, incidentally by various media and via intentionally created ASMR videos. Previously ASMR has been linked to a specific personality profile and this study aimed to further elucidate individual differences associated with this phenomenon. Methods To this effect ASMR-Experiencers and age and gender matched controls were compared on measures of flow, absorption and mindfulness. Results This revealed that ASMR was associated with elevated absorption but no group differences were found with respect to the other constructs, suggesting that the ability to get deeply immersed with the current experience accompanied by loss of reflective awareness may be an important factor contributing to the ex...
Alexithymia has been linked to reduced emotional awareness and increased aggression. One line of ... more Alexithymia has been linked to reduced emotional awareness and increased aggression. One line of evidence suggests that authoritarian parenting contributes to the development of alexithymia. To elucidate the relationship between experienced parenting style, alexithymia and aggression the Parental Authority Questionnaire, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire were administered to a group of emerging adults. Current findings show a positive relationship between: (i) authoritarian parenting style and alexithymia, (ii) alexithymia and aggression, iii) authoritarian parenting style and aggression. This study also found that paternal authoritarian parenting predicted alexithymia and aggression when controlling for maternal authoritarian style, but not the other way round. In addition, alexithymia mediated the relationship between paternal authoritarian parenting and aggression when controlling for maternal authoritarian style suggesting that elevated al...
Background Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a sensory experience elicited by audito... more Background Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a sensory experience elicited by auditory and visual triggers, which so far received little attention from the scientific community. This self-reported phenomenon is described as a relaxing tingling sensation, which typically originates on scalp and spreads through a person’s body. Recently it has been suggested that ASMR shares common characteristics with another underreported condition known as misophonia, where sounds trigger negative physiological, emotional and behavioural responses. The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether ASMR is associated with heightened levels of misophonia. Methods The Misophonia Questionnaire (MQ) was administered to individuals reporting to experience ASMR and to age and gender matched controls. Results Compared to controls ASMR group scored higher on all subscales of MQ including the Misophonia Symptom Scale, the Misophonia Emotions and Behaviors Scale and the Misophonia Severity Scale...
Synaesthesia is a condition in which one property of a stimulus triggers a secondary experience n... more Synaesthesia is a condition in which one property of a stimulus triggers a secondary experience not typically associated with the first (e.g., seeing achromatic graphemes can evoke the perception of color). Recent work has explored a variety of cognitive and perceptual traits associated with synaesthesia. One example is in the domain of personality, where higher rates of positive schizotypy and openness to experience and lower agreeableness have been reported in synaesthetes who experience color as their evoked sensation relative to typical adult controls. Additionally, grapheme-color synaesthetes have previously been reported to show elevated mental imagery compared to typical adults. Here, we aimed to further elucidate the relationship between personality, synaesthesia, and other cognitive traits. In Study 1, we examined self-reported schizotypy and self-reported visual imagery vividness in grapheme-color synaesthetes and typical adults. Our results partially replicated previous findings by showing that synaesthesia was associated with greater positive schizotypy and enhanced self-reported imagery vividness. The results also extend previous reports by demonstrating that differences in positive schizotypy and mental imagery vividness are not related in grapheme-color synaesthesia. In Study 2, we sought to build on prior work showing lower agreeableness and increased openness to experience in synaesthetes by examining whether grapheme-color synaesthesia is associated with other conceptually related traits; namely lower self-monitoring and increased sensation seeking. We did not find any differences between synaesthetes and controls on either of these traits. These findings are discussed in relation to potential factors that may contribute to the observed personality profile in grapheme-color synaesthesia.
Background: In recent years a variety of neuroimaging studies have highlighted a role of neural o... more Background: In recent years a variety of neuroimaging studies have highlighted a role of neural oscillations in perception and cognition. However, surprisingly little is known about oscillatory activity underlying facial emotion perception. The limited number of studies that have addressed this question indicate that gamma oscillations are one mechanism underlying this process. Objective: The present study aimed to further elucidate the role of neural oscillations within the gamma range in facial emotion perception in healthy adults by using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). Methods: To that effect we carried out three experiments with separate groups of participants using tACS to modulate occipital oscillations while participants completed facial anger and facial identity tasks. Results: The results of these experiments indicated that modulating occipital gamma with 40 Hz tACS enhances facial anger perception. Conclusion: This finding implicates an important role of occipital gamma oscillations in facial emotion perception.
Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a phenomenon characterised by a static-like tingli... more Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a phenomenon characterised by a static-like tingling sensation spreading from the scalp and neck to the periphery in response to a variety of audio, visual, and tactile triggers resulting in a highly relaxed state and boosted positive affect. The limited literature on this phenomenon points to a potential of ASMR to alleviate pain. Emerging evidence also suggests that ASMR may be linked to increased sensory sensitivity more broadly. This study aimed to objectively address these claims by administering an algometer (measure of pain tolerance), and a visual analog scale (VAS) (measure of subjective pain sensitivity) to ASMR experiencers and controls at baseline, following an ASMR video, and a control video. Findings indicate that ASMR experiencers have a higher pain sensitivity than controls; however, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of pain tolerance. In addition, any potential analgesic properties associated with ...
Supplemental material, SUPPLEMENTAL for Relationship between Parenting Style, Alexithymia and Agg... more Supplemental material, SUPPLEMENTAL for Relationship between Parenting Style, Alexithymia and Aggression in Emerging Adults by Agnieszka B. Janik McErlean and Li Xian Crystal Lim in Journal of Family Issues
Supplemental material, Anonymous_data for Relationship between Parenting Style, Alexithymia and A... more Supplemental material, Anonymous_data for Relationship between Parenting Style, Alexithymia and Aggression in Emerging Adults by Agnieszka B. Janik McErlean and Li Xian Crystal Lim in Journal of Family Issues
Synesthesia is a rare condition in which one property of a stimulus (e.g., shape) triggers a seco... more Synesthesia is a rare condition in which one property of a stimulus (e.g., shape) triggers a secondary percept (e.g., color) not typically associated with the first. Work on synesthesia has predominantly focused on confirming the authenticity of synesthetic experience, but much less research has been conducted to examine the extent to which synesthesia is linked to broader perceptual differences. In the research reported here, we examined whether synesthesia is associated with differences in color and motion processing by comparing these abilities in synesthetes who experience color as their evoked sensation with nonsynesthetic participants. We show that synesthesia for color is linked to facilitated color sensitivity but decreased motion sensitivity. These findings are discussed in relation to the neurocognitive mechanisms of synesthesia and interactions between color and motion processing in typical adults.
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a self-reported multi-sensory phenomenon described... more Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a self-reported multi-sensory phenomenon described as a pleasant tingling sensation, triggered by certain auditory and visual stimuli, which typically originates at the back of the head and tends to spread throughout the whole body resulting in a relaxed and sedated state. Despite growing reports of ASMR there is a lack of scientific investigation of this intriguing phenomenon. This study is the first to examine whether self-reported ASMR is associated with individual differences in personality characteristics compared to general population. To do so we administered the Big Five Inventory (BFI) and the Inter-Personal Reactivity Index (IRI) to a group of individuals reporting to experience ASMR and a matched control group. Our findings showed that ASMR self-reporters scored higher on Openness to Experience and lower on Conscientiousness measures of BFI. They also showed greater scores on Empathic Concern and Fantasizing subscale of IRI. ...
Background Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a cross-sensory phenomenon characterise... more Background Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a cross-sensory phenomenon characterised by a static-like sensation which typically originates on the scalp and spreads throughout the body leading to a state of deep relaxation. It can be triggered by visual and auditory stimuli in real life, incidentally by various media and via intentionally created ASMR videos. Previously ASMR has been linked to a specific personality profile and this study aimed to further elucidate individual differences associated with this phenomenon. Methods To this effect ASMR-Experiencers and age and gender matched controls were compared on measures of flow, absorption and mindfulness. Results This revealed that ASMR was associated with elevated absorption but no group differences were found with respect to the other constructs, suggesting that the ability to get deeply immersed with the current experience accompanied by loss of reflective awareness may be an important factor contributing to the ex...
Alexithymia has been linked to reduced emotional awareness and increased aggression. One line of ... more Alexithymia has been linked to reduced emotional awareness and increased aggression. One line of evidence suggests that authoritarian parenting contributes to the development of alexithymia. To elucidate the relationship between experienced parenting style, alexithymia and aggression the Parental Authority Questionnaire, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire were administered to a group of emerging adults. Current findings show a positive relationship between: (i) authoritarian parenting style and alexithymia, (ii) alexithymia and aggression, iii) authoritarian parenting style and aggression. This study also found that paternal authoritarian parenting predicted alexithymia and aggression when controlling for maternal authoritarian style, but not the other way round. In addition, alexithymia mediated the relationship between paternal authoritarian parenting and aggression when controlling for maternal authoritarian style suggesting that elevated al...
Background Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a sensory experience elicited by audito... more Background Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a sensory experience elicited by auditory and visual triggers, which so far received little attention from the scientific community. This self-reported phenomenon is described as a relaxing tingling sensation, which typically originates on scalp and spreads through a person’s body. Recently it has been suggested that ASMR shares common characteristics with another underreported condition known as misophonia, where sounds trigger negative physiological, emotional and behavioural responses. The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether ASMR is associated with heightened levels of misophonia. Methods The Misophonia Questionnaire (MQ) was administered to individuals reporting to experience ASMR and to age and gender matched controls. Results Compared to controls ASMR group scored higher on all subscales of MQ including the Misophonia Symptom Scale, the Misophonia Emotions and Behaviors Scale and the Misophonia Severity Scale...
Synaesthesia is a condition in which one property of a stimulus triggers a secondary experience n... more Synaesthesia is a condition in which one property of a stimulus triggers a secondary experience not typically associated with the first (e.g., seeing achromatic graphemes can evoke the perception of color). Recent work has explored a variety of cognitive and perceptual traits associated with synaesthesia. One example is in the domain of personality, where higher rates of positive schizotypy and openness to experience and lower agreeableness have been reported in synaesthetes who experience color as their evoked sensation relative to typical adult controls. Additionally, grapheme-color synaesthetes have previously been reported to show elevated mental imagery compared to typical adults. Here, we aimed to further elucidate the relationship between personality, synaesthesia, and other cognitive traits. In Study 1, we examined self-reported schizotypy and self-reported visual imagery vividness in grapheme-color synaesthetes and typical adults. Our results partially replicated previous findings by showing that synaesthesia was associated with greater positive schizotypy and enhanced self-reported imagery vividness. The results also extend previous reports by demonstrating that differences in positive schizotypy and mental imagery vividness are not related in grapheme-color synaesthesia. In Study 2, we sought to build on prior work showing lower agreeableness and increased openness to experience in synaesthetes by examining whether grapheme-color synaesthesia is associated with other conceptually related traits; namely lower self-monitoring and increased sensation seeking. We did not find any differences between synaesthetes and controls on either of these traits. These findings are discussed in relation to potential factors that may contribute to the observed personality profile in grapheme-color synaesthesia.
Background: In recent years a variety of neuroimaging studies have highlighted a role of neural o... more Background: In recent years a variety of neuroimaging studies have highlighted a role of neural oscillations in perception and cognition. However, surprisingly little is known about oscillatory activity underlying facial emotion perception. The limited number of studies that have addressed this question indicate that gamma oscillations are one mechanism underlying this process. Objective: The present study aimed to further elucidate the role of neural oscillations within the gamma range in facial emotion perception in healthy adults by using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). Methods: To that effect we carried out three experiments with separate groups of participants using tACS to modulate occipital oscillations while participants completed facial anger and facial identity tasks. Results: The results of these experiments indicated that modulating occipital gamma with 40 Hz tACS enhances facial anger perception. Conclusion: This finding implicates an important role of occipital gamma oscillations in facial emotion perception.
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