1. Investigation of the influence of autonomous sensory meridian response on the prefrontal cortex using fNIRS.
- Author
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Özgür, Sezgi Fırat, Kaya, Kutlu, Pekaslan, Kardelen, Karaismailoğlu, Serkan, Çakır, Murat Perit, Arıhan, Okan, and Erdem, Ayşen
- Subjects
PREFRONTAL cortex ,MANN Whitney U Test ,BEER-Lambert law ,COGNITIVE testing - Abstract
Objective: Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a phenomenon triggered by specifically designed videos and sounds, inducing a feeling of relaxation in individuals. Previous studies have demonstrated that ASMR stimuli lead to tempo rary improvements in pain symptoms and enhanced performance in cognitive tests for ASMR-sensitive individuals. Most studies on ASMR have primarily relied on surveys or recording brain activity in a limited area (e.g., fMRI). Allowing individuals to experience ASMR in a more comfortable setting and concurrently examining its influence on the prefrontal cortex will contribute to a better understanding of this phenomenon at the physiological level. Methods: 26 healthy volunteers (9 men) were included in this study. While participants comfortably watched ASMR and control videos, prefrontal cortex activity was recorded using an fNIRS device (fNIR Devices, Maryland, USA) with 16 channels. The oxy-([HbO]), deoxy- ([HbR]), and total hemoglobin ([HbT]) concentrations were obtained using the modified Beer-Lambert law. After the experiment, participants completed an information form and were divided into two groups based on their ASMR sensitivity: sensitive (n=13) and non-sensitive (n=13). Responses to ASMR videos between the groups were evaluated using the Mann-Whitney U test, while the responses of ASMR-sensitive individuals to ASMR and control videos were compared using the Wilcoxon test. Results: ASMR-sensitive individuals had significantly lower [HbR] values (median=-0.33 µM) compared to non-sensitive individuals (0.34 µM) in channel 7 (p=0.01). When comparing ASMR and control video responses in ASMR-sensitive individuals, [HbR] responses to ASMR videos were lower than those to control videos in channels 1, 4, and 10 (-0.48, 0.11, and - 0.44 µM, respectively, vs. 0.20, 0.81, and 0.24 µM; p<0.04 for all). Conclusion: Our study contributes to understanding the influence of ASMR videos on prefrontal activation in sensitive individuals and provides valuable physiological insights into this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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