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Emotional drift in valence and arousal in chills and no chills conditions. The chills participants reported a greater drift in emotional valence and arousal, and a change from a bottom quadrant to a top quadrant, whereas the participants who did not experience chills remained in the same emotional space
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Background
Depression is a major global health challenge, affecting over 300 million people worldwide. Current pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions have limited efficacy, underscoring the need for novel approaches. Emerging evidence suggests that peak emotional experiences characterized by awe, transcendence, and meaning hold promise...
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Citations
... Beyond its impact on quality of life, MDD remains the leading psychiatric contributor to global suicide mortality, with core symptoms including diminished self-worth, excessive guilt, psychomotor changes, and sleep disturbances-factors that collectively contribute to increased all-cause mortality rates [2]. Patients with MDD often exhibit persistent negative cognitive biases, social withdrawal, and disrupted emotional regulation [3]. Epidemiological data indicate a growing global burden, currently affecting over 350 million individuals, with projections by the World Health Organization suggesting that MDD will become the leading cause of disability worldwide by 2030 [4]. ...
Background/Objectives: Major depressive disorder (MDD), a debilitating psychiatric condition, is intricately linked to neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, disrupted tryptophan–kynurenine pathways, and an urgent need for novel, plant-based therapeutics such as curcumin and other natural antidepressants. Emerging evidence further highlights altered brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling in MDD, making the search for integrative, phytomedicine-oriented interventions more critical than ever. Methods: This systematic review critically analyzed 62 articles initially retrieved from PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases, with 19 studies deemed eligible for comprehensive synthesis. Results: The included investigations spanned diverse populations and examined the therapeutic potential of phytochemicals to modulate neuroimmune interactions, reduce oxidative injury, and enhance mood-related biomarkers. Among the promising candidates, curcumin, polyphenols, and flavonoid-rich extracts consistently demonstrated improvements in depressive symptoms, often by targeting pro-inflammatory mediators and promoting neuroplasticity. These findings reinforce the notion that bioactive compounds from plants may serve as effective adjunctive or standalone strategies in MDD management, particularly for individuals who experience limited benefit from conventional approaches. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the growing feasibility of phytomedicine as a powerful complement to existing treatment paradigms. Future work should focus on standardized dosing, long-term safety, and mechanistic studies that clarify how plant-derived compounds can be leveraged for more robust, personalized depression care. Such integrative approaches promise to broaden therapeutic horizons and spark novel research pathways in translational neuroscience.
... Chills typically occur during peak emotional responses to stimuli like music [6], films [7], and speeches [8], engaging brain regions linked to reward/avoidance and dopamine release [6,9]. Recent evidence suggests chills may have therapeutic potential for disorders involving dopamine dysfunction such as depression [10][11][12][13]. However, existing chills research relies heavily on self-selected musical excerpts, limiting generalizability and introducing pre-selection biases [14]. ...
Aesthetic chills are a peak emotional response to stimuli such as music, films, or speech characterized by shivers and goosebumps and activation of dopaminergic circuits. Despite growing scientific interest in this phenomenon, repeated exposure to chills stimuli has not been studied yet, due to the absence of a validated database. This study leverages a recent gold standard in chills stimuli to investigate the impact of repeated exposure on the frequency and intensity of aesthetic chills. Participants (n = 58) were randomly exposed to 6 chill-evoking stimuli pre-validated on the population of interest, in a counterbalanced order. Our findings revealed a significant decrease in the likelihood of experiencing chills with repeated exposure, suggesting habituation to chills itself or potential fatigue in response to aesthetic stimuli. However, we observed an increase in the intensity and duration of chills over successive exposures among those who did experience chills. The study also identified distinct demographic and psychophysiological response patterns across different participant groups, indicating variability in chill responses. These results provide insights into the dynamic nature of aesthetic experiences and their underlying neural mechanisms, with implications for understanding emotional and reward processing in psychophysiology.
... Additionally, ASMR videos can foster feelings of social connection by simulating intimate scenarios, helping people feel less lonely (Quevedo, 2020). Aesthetic chills have also been shown to mitigate depressive symptoms (Schoeller et al., 2024) and relieve chronic pain (Barratt & Davis, 2015). However, despite these reported benefits, both ASMR and chills remain relatively under-researched phenomena, with their full effects and mechanisms not yet fully understood. ...
This review explores the complex nature of emotional experiences, extending beyond traditional emotion theories to encompass a spectrum of complex emotional states. It investigates the psychophysiological underpinnings of nuanced emotions such as awe, the sublime, and aesthetic emotions; it contains brief explanations for such phenomena as near-death experiences and out-of-body experiences and chills. These emotional states have remained underexamined in prior studies, which have predominantly concentrated on categorical emotions (such as happiness and anger) or affective dimensions (like valence and arousal). Recent advancements in the field have prompted a shift from rigid emotional classifications toward a deeper understanding of the complex nature of human emotional experiences. This evolving perspective creates new opportunities to provide a more nuanced framework for complex experiences, moving beyond simplistic positive or negative labels. A significant focus is given to induction of such states, particularly with virtual reality. The immersive nature of virtual reality offers unique avenues for inducing complex emotions, underscoring its potential for therapeutic applications. In various domains, including therapy, education, technology and game design, promoting positive emotional states such as awe and the sublime can enhance well-being, foster creativity, and increase cognitive flexibility. As further research reveals the psychological mechanisms underlying these experiences, it may lead to interventions that leverage the power of complex emotions to bolster mental health and personal development. Consequently, investigating complex emotional experiences not only enriches theoretical frameworks but also holds significant potential for enhancing human well-being.
... How do factors like personality and upbringing shape our susceptibility? Though methodologically daunting, disentangling the complex factors underlying these individual differences is key to harnessing the therapeutic promise of peak emotional experiences (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). One such universal peak experience is aesthetic chills (henceforth "chills")-an intense psychophysiological response to specific rewarding or aversive stimuli associated with shivers, goosebumps, and a feeling of cold down the neck and/or spine (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12). ...
... bodily sensations that act as emotional, conditioned responses representing complex reinforcer values related to prior experiences (7,20). Chills have been a research topic of growing interest in the past decade (7,21), notably for their effects on positive affect (22,23), reward learning (6,13,22,24), memory and attentional processes (25,26), prosocial tendencies (27)(28)(29), and as a nonpharmacological substitute for dopaminergic-related illnesses, and mood disorders (4,7,22). Substantial individual differences exist in both propensity for and intensity of chills (24,(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40), which hinders progress in understanding and utilizing chills as therapeutic tools for mental health conditions and enhancing positive emotional experiences broadly. ...
Why does the same experience elicit strong emotional responses in some individuals while leaving others largely indifferent? Is the variance influenced by who people are (personality traits), how they feel (emotional state), where they come from (demographics), or a unique combination of these? In this 2,900+ participants study, we disentangle the factors that underlie individual variations in the universal experience of aesthetic chills, the feeling of cold and shivers down the spine during peak experiences. Here, we unravel the interplay of psychological and sociocultural dynamics influencing self-reported chills reactions. A novel technique harnessing mass data mining of social media platforms curates the first large database of ecologically sourced chills-evoking stimuli. A combination of machine learning techniques (LASSO and SVM) and multilevel modeling analysis elucidates the interacting roles of demographics, traits, and states factors in the experience of aesthetic chills. These findings highlight a tractable set of features predicting the occurrence and intensity of chills—age, sex, pre-exposure arousal, predisposition to Kama Muta (KAMF), and absorption (modified tellegen absorption scale [MODTAS]), with 73.5% accuracy in predicting the occurrence of chills and accounting for 48% of the variance in chills intensity. While traditional methods typically suffer from a lack of control over the stimuli and their effects, this approach allows for the assignment of stimuli tailored to individual biopsychosocial profiles, thereby, increasing experimental control and decreasing unexplained variability. Further, they elucidate how hidden sociocultural factors, psychological traits, and contextual states shape seemingly “subjective” phenomena.
This narrative review explores the role of phytochemicals—like curcumin, flavonoids, and polyphenols—in treating major depressive disorder (MDD). It highlights how these natural compounds target key pathological processes such as neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Drawing from preclinical and clinical evidence, the authors suggest that plant-based antidepressants offer multimodal benefits with fewer side effects than conventional drugs. The review advocates for more standardized trials to confirm their efficacy and support integration into personalized depression care.
