A modified Delphi study with 98 ASMR experts, practitioners, community members, and researchers generated 451 suggestions for research priorities, condensed into 13 key areas, including definition and measurement, neurophysiology, triggers, individual and cultural differences, therapeutic applications, and community culture. These were voted on by 70% of the initial participants using best/worst scaling. The resulting agenda maps important questions for the field and aims to inspire interdisciplinary collaborations.
Ritual magic practitioners who combine meditation, visualization, and related mental exercises report more invoked and spontaneously-occurring anomalous phenomena, and this relationship is linked to transliminality, a personality trait reflecting loose mental boundaries. However, on a computerized psi test, these practitioners scored significantly below chance, especially when testing ESP openly or using ritual to influence the test. The findings suggest that magical practice may involve techniques that could remediate a transliminal dis-ease model, but the psi test results indicate a reversal of expected effects.
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is an altered state of consciousness involving changes in affect, relaxation, and tingling sensations. Online videos designed to trigger ASMR have become popular, and ASMR may improve sleep, emotion regulation, and relaxation, but understanding of ASMR propensity is limited. This study examined whether a mentally flexible cognitive style underlies the ability to experience ASMR. Among 376 undergraduate students, findings did not support an overall mentally flexible mindset. However, transliminality, emotional contagion susceptibility, positive schizotypal traits, and roleplaying ability all significantly positively predicted ASMR propensity. ASMR propensity represents several possible underlying cognitive styles related to enhanced imagination and perceptual ability, not simply mental flexibility.