Aesthetic chills involve pleasurable bodily sensations co-occurring with self-transcendent emotions. In this study, 94 participants were exposed to pre-validated musical stimuli with chills-inducing potential. Participants experiencing chills reported significantly greater psychological insight and emotional awareness compared to non-chills controls. Chills intensity positively correlated with insight and emotional awareness. These results suggest that interoceptive signals may precipitate cognitive-emotional shifts. Further research should explore the role of bodily manipulations across altered states. Musical chillsinducepsychological insight SchoellerF.*[1,2],Jain,A.*[2],Christov-Moore,L.[1],Reggente,N.[1] [1]InstituteforAdvancedConsciousnessStudies,SantaMonica,CA,USA.[2]MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,Cambridge,MA,USA.*Theseauthorscontributedequally.Correspondence:felix@advancedconsciousness.org AbstractAestheticchillsinvolvepleasurablebodilysensationsco-occurringwithself-transcendentemotions. Inthisstudy, 94participantswereexposedtopre-validatedmusical stimuli withchills-inducingpotential. Participantsexperiencingchillsreportedsignificantlygreaterpsychological insight andemotional awarenesscomparedtonon-chillscontrols. Chillsintensitypositivelycorrelatedwithinsight andemotional awareness. Theseresultssuggestthat interoceptivesignalsmayprecipitatecognitive-emotional shifts. Further researchshouldexploretheroleofbodilymanipulationsacrossalteredstates. Keywords: aestheticchills, insight, interoception, piloerection, positiveemotion 1. Introduction Theexperienceofprofoundinsightandrevelationisahallmarkofalteredstatesofconsciousness,includingthoseinducedbypsychedelics,meditation,orpsychosis(Tulveretal.,2023;MacLeanetal.,2011;Barrettetal.,2020;Schoeller,2023).Crucially,insightduringpsychedelic-assistedpsychotherapypredictslong-termbenefits(BogenschutzandPommy,2012;Garcia-Romeuetal.,2019;Garcia-Romeuetal.,2020;Griffithsetal.,2019;Letheby,2021).Recentstudieshaveincreasinglyfocusedonunderstandingthecognitiveprocessesbehindepiphaniesor'aha'moments(Tiketal.,2018;Moroshkina,2021).Parallelresearchhighlightsthecrucialfunctionofbodilyprocessesinfosteringpsychologicalinsightsandtheresultingbehavioralchange(Millièreetal.,2018;LethebyandGerrans,2017).Specifically,increasingattentionisdevotedtointeroception,the awarenessofinternalbodysignals,whichprovidesessentialfeedbackaboutone'sinternalstates.Interoceptiveawarenessisassociatedwithenhancedacce 2.2.Participants Participants(n=94;51.06%female,47.87%male,1.06%other),aged18-76(Mean=36years),wereEnglish-speaking,CaliforniaresidentswithU.S.nationalitywithnohearingdifficultiesorhistoryofneurologicdisorder.Participantswerecompensated$12/hour. 2.3.Materials 2.3.1.Stimuli ThestimuliforthestudyweresourcedfromChillsDB2.0,anexpandedrepositoryofaudiovisualstimulispecificallycuratedtostudytheaestheticchillsphenomenonpre-validatedon3000+southerncaliforniaparticipants(Schoelleretal.,2022;2023).Forthepurposeofourstudy,weselectedacollectionofstimuliwithvaryingprobabilitiesofelicitingchills—classifiedintolow,medium,andhighcategories—whilemaintainingsimilarcontentacrossthesecategoriestoensurecontentconsistency—audiorecordingsofchoirsingingofsimilarduration(table1). Table1.Descriptionofstimuliusedinthestudy Title DurationDescriptionMisereMei,Deuis5:14 TenebraeChoirperformsGregorioAllegri’sMisereremei,DeusatSt.BartholomewtheGreat,inLondon.Thework’stitle,Latinfor“Havemercyonme,OGod,”isfromPsalm51.TheRenaissancecompositionhashistoricallybeenshroudedinsecrecyandmystiquedatingbacktoitsfirstperformancesattheSistineChapel.ChoirHallelujah6:26 Choir!Choir!Choir!beganasaweeklydrop-insingingevent,equalpartssinging,comedy,andcommunity-building.In2015,1500singerscametoLuminatoFestivalinTorontoforaveryspecialevent.Choir!leaderstaughtthembackuppartstoLeonardCohen'sHallelujah,andRufusWainwrightjoinedthecrowdonstagetoleadthevocals.Thecollectiveperformanceamplifiesthepowerofthemusicalpiece.MusicalAramaicrenditionoftheOurFather 5:04 FatherSerafimBitbunovandthechoiroftheThirteenHolyAssyrianFathersmonasteryperformapsalminAramaicthatmovesPopeFrancistotearsduringhisvisittoSvetitskhoveliOrthodoxCathedralinMtskheta,Georgia.TheAramaiclanguagesareanancientbranchoftheSemiticlanguagefamily,andthereisscholarlyconsensusthatthehistoricalJesusspokeAramaic. Panksepp,J.(1995).Theemotionalsourcesof"chills"inducedbymusic.MusicPerception.Peill,J.M.,Trinci,K.E.,Kettner,H.,Mertens,L.J.,Roseman,L.,Timmermann,C.,...&Carhart-Harris,R.L.(2022).ValidationofthePsychologicalInsightScale:Anewscaletoassesspsychologicalinsightfollowingapsychedelicexperience.JournalofPsychopharmacology,36(1),31-45.Rowe,G.etal.(2007).Positiveaffectincreasesthebreadthofattentionalselection.ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences.Sakaki,M.&Niki,K.(2011).Effectsofthebriefviewingofemotionalstimulionunderstandingofinsightsolutions.Cognitive,Affective,&BehavioralNeuroscience.Salimpoor,V.N.etal.(2011).Anatomicallydistinctdopaminereleaseduringanticipationandexperienceofpeakemotiontomusic.NatureNeuroscience.Schoeller,F.(2015a).Theshiversofknowledge.HumanandSocialStudies.Schoeller,F.(2015b).Greatexpectations:Narrativesandtheelicitationofchills.Psychology.Schoeller,F.(2015c).Knowledge,curiosity,andaestheticchills.FrontiersinPsychology.Schoeller,F.etal.(2019).Enhancinghumanemotionswithinteroceptivetechnologies.PhysicsofLifeReviews.Schoeller,F.&Perlovsky,L.(2016).Aestheticchills:Knowledge-acquisition,meaning-making,andaestheticemotions.FrontiersinPsychology.Schoeller,F.etal.(2022).ChillsDB:Agoldstandardforaestheticchillsstimuli.ScientificData.Schoeller,F.etal.(2023a).ChillsDB2.0:Individualdifferencesinaestheticchillsamong2,900+participants.PsyArXiv.Schoeller,F.etal.(2023b).Aestheticchillsfosterself-acceptanceandemotionalbreakthroughindepression.PsyArXiv.Schoeller,F.etal.(2023c).ChillsDB2.0:Individualdifferencesinaestheticchillsamong2,900+participants.OSFPreprints.Schoeller,F.etal.(2023d).Aestheticchills:Howdobodilysensationsshapeconsciousfeelings?OSFPreprints.

ABSTRACT This research provides an in-depth exploration into the triggers and corresponding autonomic responses of piloerection, a phenomenon prevalent across various species. In non-human species, piloerection occurs in reaction to a variety of environmental changes, including social interactions and temperature shifts. However, its understanding in humans has been confined to emotional contexts. This is problematic because it reflects solely upon subjective experience rather than an objective response to the environment. Further, given our shared evolutionary paths, piloerection should function similarly in humans and other animals. I observed 1198 piloerection episodes from eight participants while simultaneously recording multiple autonomic and body temperature indices, finding that piloerection in humans can be elicited by thermal, tactile, and audio-visual stimuli with equal effectiveness. The data also revealed variations in cardiac reactivity measures: audio-visual piloerection was associated with greater sympathetic arousal, while tactile piloerection was linked to greater parasympathetic arousal. Despite prevailing notions of piloerection as a vestigial response in humans, it does respond to decreases in skin temperature and is associated with a rise in skin temperature during episodes. This research underscores that piloerection in humans is not purely vestigial, nor is it solely an affective response to emotional stimuli. Rather, it is best understood as a reflexive response to environmental changes, suggesting a shared functional similarity with other species.

It is often suggested that piloerection, or goosebumps, is primarily triggered by emotional experience—theoretical perspectives place a heavy emphasis on experiencing novelty and surprise. However, the two studies described here challenge this perspective, demonstrating that the incidence of piloerection is not contingent upon exposure to novel stimuli and is disconnected from self-reported emotions. Study 1 (N = 80) shows that piloerection was not more likely to occur among individuals exposed to unfamiliar stimuli compared to those with prior exposure. Additionally, self-reported emotions were not correlated with observed piloerection. Study 2 (N = 27) found that piloerection persists throughout multiple exposures to identical stimuli. Importantly, the trajectories of observed piloerection and self-reported emotions diverged greatly. These findings challenge the common view that piloerection—unlike self-reported goosebumps and chills—is driven by emotional experience, suggesting that it may not be as closely connected to emotional experiences as previously theorised.

Abstract This research provides an in-depth exploration into the triggers and corresponding autonomic responses of piloerection, a phenomenon prevalent across various species. In non-human species, piloerection occurs in reaction to a variety of environmental changes, including social interactions and temperature shifts. However, its understanding in humans has been confined to emotional contexts. This is problematic because it reflects solely upon subjective experience rather than an objective response to the environment, and because, given our shared evolutionary paths, piloerection should function similarly in humans and other animals. We observed 1,198 piloerection episodes from eight participants while simultaneously recording multiple autonomic and body temperature indices, finding that piloerection in humans can indeed be elicited by thermal, tactile, and audio-visual stimuli. The data also revealed variations in cardiac reactivity measures: audio-visual piloerection was associated with greater sympathetic arousal, while tactile piloerection was linked to greater parasympathetic arousal. Despite prevailing notions of piloerection as a vestigial response in humans, it does respond to decreases in skin temperature and induces a rise in skin temperature during episodes. This research underscores that piloerection in humans is not solely an affective response to emotional stimuli. Rather, it is best understood as a reflexive response to environmental changes, suggesting a shared functional similarity with other species.

Chills are a psychophysiological response which can be experienced when listening to music. They have been of particular interest in scientific research on music because of their association with emotion and pleasure. However, with the literature doubling in size since the last review on the subject, it has become increasingly difficult to gain a broad and integrated understanding of the empirical and theoretical research on music-evoked chills (MECs). Notably, crucial questions remain about the criteria that are necessary and sufficient to characterise MECs. In this article, we systematically review the literature on MECs in order to reconcile diverging opinions and empirical findings on their psychological nature, and to develop a preliminary model that provides a robust framework for future hypothesis-driven research. We explore the context behind current research on MECs, discuss how they relate to emotional and aesthetic responses, assess current empirical measures and paradigms, summarise their physiological and neural correlates, categorise their possible stimulus-driven elicitors, examine how they are affected by individual differences, and evaluate theoretical perspectives about their potential evolutionary causes. We conclude by providing a preliminary model of MECs that suggests different pathways for the experience of MECs, a dataset listing pieces of music reported to elicit MECs in the reviewed literature, and a set of open issues, hypotheses, and recommended approaches for future research.

Trypophobia and misophonia are sensory-affective phenomena that scientists only recently began studying. Trypophobia is when repeating visual-spatial patterns of holes or bumps cause negative reactions, whereas misophonia is when repeating auditory-temporal patterns of chewing or tapping sounds cause negative reactions. Both phenomena can be measured using self-report questionnaires or measurement of reactions in real-time to exposure to triggering stimuli. Research on misophonia has shown links from both self-report and real-time reactions with other auditory emotional experiences like autonomous sensory-meridian response and musical chills, with brain imaging studies showing overlapping brain networks activated during all three of these experiences. Here, we ask whether trypophobia and misophonia show correlations with each other, which could imply that they also share similar psychological and neural mechanisms. We will therefore measure self-report and real-time measures of trypophobia and misophonia in 200 participants, with the sample-size determined by a power analysis designed to detect r=0.20 (alpha=.05, power=0.80). We will also measure disgust sensitivity and neuroticism in the same participants to see if trypophobia and misophonia correlate similarly to these additional psychological constructs that have been previously linked to trypophobia and/or misophonia. These findings will be helpful in motivating future studies exploring the common psychological and neural mechanisms underlying sensory-affective processing more generally. Do emotional reactions to trypophobia stimuli rely on similar mechanisms as misophonia, ASMR, and musical chills? | Lifecycle Journal Do emotional reactions to trypophobia stimuli rely on similar mechanisms as misophonia, ASMR, and musical chills? Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA Published on 11.20.2025 Version 1 | Status: Evaluation Complete Status Date: 01/23/2026 DOI: 10.71240/lcyc.689209 Download cite Christie, D., Hannon. E.E., Haigh, S.M., Snyder1, J.S. (2025). Do emotional reactions to trypophobia stimuli rely on similar mechanisms as misophonia, ASMR, and musical chills?.