Beverley Katherine Fredborg

Introduction Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a perceptual condition in which specific stimuli (ASMR “triggers”) reliably elicit relaxing and pleasurable tingling sensations that are initially localized to the head and neck region and may spread secondarily to other regions of the body. ASMR triggers vary from person to person and may be auditory, visual, tactile, and/or olfactory in nature. ASMR was recently brought to the attention of the public in 2010 (del Campo and Kehle, 2016).

In the current study, we also hypothesized that ASMR would be associated with increased DMN activity in sensory cortices, perhaps including brain regions not typically associated with the DMN. If the DMN of these individuals included additional functional connectivity between sensory regions in the temporal (audition), parietal (somatosensation), and occipital (vision) cortices, it could suggest an increased openness to unusual sensory experiences.