Functional Brain Connectivity During ASMR Trigger and White-Noise Listening in Older and Young Adults

Background: Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a pleasant tingling sensation elicited by specific sensory stimuli. Neuroimaging studies of ASMR have mainly involved young adults. This study explored whether the functional connectivity difference between ASMR trigger and white-noise listening differed between older and young adults. Methods: Thirty young and 34 older adults underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while listening to a single auditory ASMR trigger and white noise. Seed-to-voxel connectivity was analyzed for 32 seeds, and the ASMR-minus-white-noise contrasts were directly compared between age groups. Results: The direct age-group comparison revealed no significant difference after correction for multiple comparisons, including among participants reporting ASMR-related tingling. Within-group analyses identified condition-related differences in specific connections: medial prefrontal–right lateral parietal connectivity was greater during ASMR than white-noise listening in older adults, whereas left anterior insula–left supramarginal gyrus connectivity was lower during ASMR than white-noise listening in young adults. No significant association between the ASMR-minus-white-noise functional connectivity contrast and tingling ratings was detected in either age group. Conclusions: No significant age-group difference was detected in the ASMR-minus-white-noise functional connectivity contrast. The within-group findings indicate localized differences between two acoustically dissimilar listening conditions but do not provide evidence of age-specific or ASMR-specific neural responses.