Motion sickness
Encyclopedia
Motion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system
's sense of movement. Depending on the cause it can also be referred to as seasickness, car sickness, simulation sickness or airsickness
.
Dizziness
, fatigue, and nausea
are the most common symptom
s of motion sickness. Sopite syndrome
in which a person feels fatigue or tiredness is also associated with motion sickness. Nausea in Greek
means seasickness (naus means ship). If the motion causing nausea is not resolved, the sufferer will frequently vomit
. Unlike ordinary sickness, vomiting in motion sickness tends not to relieve the nausea.
are immune to motion sickness.
Motion sickness on the sea
can result from being in the berth
of a rolling boat without being able to see the horizon
. Sudden jerky movements tend to be worse for provoking motion sickness than slower smooth ones, because they disrupt the fluid balance more. A "corkscrewing" boat will upset more people than one that is gliding smoothly across the oncoming waves. Cars driving rapidly around winding roads or up and down a series of hills will upset more people than cars that are moving over smooth, straight roads. Looking down into one's lap to consult a map or attempting to read a book while a passenger in a car may also bring on motion sickness. Motion sickness is greatest for vertical sinusoidal motion in the frequency range of 0.05–0.8 Hz and is maximal at 0.167 Hz.
s. The area postrema
in the brain
is responsible for inducing vomiting when poisons are detected, and for resolving conflicts between vision and balance. When feeling motion but not seeing it (for example, in a ship with no windows), the inner ear
transmits to the brain that it senses motion, but the eyes tell the brain that everything is still. As a result of the discordance, the brain will come to the conclusion that one of them is hallucinating and further conclude that the hallucination is due to poison ingestion. The brain
responds by inducing vomiting, to clear the supposed toxin.
and hence the motion is felt, but no motion or little motion is detected by the visual system
.
receives conflicting messages from the body (including the inner ear
, eye
s and muscle
s) affecting balance
and equilibrium
. It is essentially the same as carsickness but occurs in an airplane. However, some significant differences are that an airplane may bank and tilt sharply and due to the small window sizes, a passenger is likely to see only the stationary interior of the plane. Another factor is that while in flight, there is little that can be seen outside of the windows that would indicate motion to the visual system.
and, in extreme cases, vertigo
experienced after spending time on a craft on water
. It is, again, essentially the same as carsickness, though the motion of a watercraft tends to be more constant. It is typically brought on by the rocking motion of the craft or movement while immersed in water. As with airsickness, it can be difficult to visually detect motion even if one looks outside of the boat as water does not offer fixed points with which to visually judge motion. Some people experience car sickness yet they don't experience seasickness.
and the Gravitron
can cause motion sickness in many people. While the interior of the centrifuge does not appear to move, one will experience a sense of movement. In addition, centrifugal force
can cause the vestibular system to give one the sense that downward is in the direction away from the center of the centrifuge rather than the true downward direction.
and hence the motion is seen, but no motion or little motion is sensed by the vestibular system
. Motion sickness arising from such situations has been referred to as Visually Induced Motion Sickness (VIMS).
but may also occur in regular format theaters or even when watching TV. For the sake of novelty, Imax and other panoramic type theaters often show dramatic motions such as flying over a landscape or riding a roller coaster
. There is little way to prevent this type of motion sickness except to close one's eyes during such scenes or to avoid such movies.
In regular format theaters, an example of a movie that caused motion sickness in many people is The Blair Witch Project
. Theater patrons were warned of its possible nauseating effects, cautioning pregnant women in particular. In this case, a camcorder
was used to film the movie. As the camera was hand held, the camera was subjected to considerably more motion than the average movie camera.
Home movies, often filmed with a hand-held camera, also tend to cause motion sickness in those that view them. The camera-person rarely notices this during filming since his/her sense of motion matches the motion seen through the camera viewfinder. Those who view the film afterward only see the movement, which may be considerable, without any sense of movement. Using the zoom function seems to contribute to motion sickness as well as zooming is not a normal function of the eye. The use of a tripod or a camcorder with image stabilization
technology while filming can minimize this effect.
The most common theory for the cause of simulation sickness is that the illusion of motion created by the virtual world, combined with the absence of motion detected by the inner ear, causes the area postrema
in the human brain
to infer that one is hallucinating and further conclude that the hallucination is due to poison ingestion. The brain responds by inducing nausea and mass vomiting, to clear the supposed toxin. According to this theory, simulation sickness is just another form of motion sickness.
The symptoms are often described as quite similar to that of motion sickness, and can range from headache, drowsiness, nausea, dizziness, vomiting and sweating. Research done at the University of Minnesota
had students play Halo
for less than an hour, and found that up to 50 percent felt sick afterwards.
In a study conducted by U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences in a report published May 1995 titled "Technical Report 1027 - Simulator Sickness in Virtual Environments", out of 742 pilot exposures from 11 military flight simulators, "approximately half of the pilots (334) reported post-effects of some kind: 250 (34%) reported that symptoms dissipated in less than 1 hour, 44 (6%) reported that symptoms lasted longer than 4 hours, and 28 (4%) reported that symptoms lasted longer than 6 hours. There were also 4 (1%) reported cases of spontaneously occurring flashbacks."
The phenomenon was well known in popular culture before it was known as simulation sickness. In the 1983 comedy film Joysticks
, the manager of a local video arcade says, "The reason why I never play any of these games, well, they make me physically ill. I mean, every time I look in one of the screens, they make me dizzy."
is very similar to simulation sickness and motion sickness due to films. In virtual reality, however, the effect is made more acute as all external reference points are blocked from vision, the simulated images are 3-dimensional
and in some cases stereo sound that may also give a sense of motion. The world's most advanced simulator, the NADS-1, located at the National Advanced Driving Simulator is capable of accurately stimulating the vestibular system with a 360 degree horizontal field of view and 16 degree of freedom motion base. Studies have shown that exposure to rotational motions in a virtual environement can cause significant increases in nausea and other symptoms of motion sickness.
astronauts currently experience it on their first flight; the first case is now suspected to be Gherman Titov
, in August 1961 onboard Vostok 2
, who reported dizziness and nausea. However, the first significant cases were in early Apollo flights; Frank Borman
on Apollo 8
and Rusty Schweickart
on Apollo 9
. Both experienced identifiable and reasonably severe symptoms—in the latter case causing the mission plan to be modified.
causes a sense of motion in the vestibular system that does not match the motion that is seen.
Sometimes when riding a vehicle for a long time on a badly maintained road at a very slow (10–20 km/h) speed the two senses fail to correspond. Due to the poor road quality the vehicle will jerk too much giving a sense of severe motion to the inner ear. But due to the slow speed the eye doesn't sense proportional amount of motion.
by providing a visual reaffirmation of motion.
In the night, or in a ship without windows, it is helpful to simply close one's eyes, or if possible, take a nap. This resolves the input conflict between the eyes and the inner ear. Napping also helps prevent psychogenic effects (i.e. the effect of sickness being magnified by thinking about it).
A simple method for relieving common and mild car sickness is chewing. Chewing gum has an uncanny effectiveness for reducing car sickness in those affected. Chewing gum, however, is not the only thing one may chew to relieve mild effects of car sickness, snacking on sweets or just chewing in general seems to reduce adverse effects of the conflict between vision and balance.
Fresh, cool air can also relieve motion sickness slightly, although it is likely this is related to avoiding foul odors which can worsen nausea.
), Stugeron (cinnarizine
), and Bonine/Antivert (meclozine
).
Scopolamine
is effective and is sometimes used in the form of transdermal patch
es (1.5 mg) or as a newer tablet form (0.4 mg). The selection of a transdermal patch or scopolamine tablet is determined by a doctor after consideration of the patient's age, weight, and length of treatment time required.
Interestingly, many pharmacological treatments which are effective for nausea and vomiting in some medical conditions may not be effective for motion sickness. For example, metoclopramide
and prochlorperazine
, although widely used for nausea, are ineffective for motion-sickness prevention and treatment. This is due to the physiology of the CNS
vomiting centre and its inputs from the chemoreceptor trigger zone versus the inner ear. Sedating anti-histamine medications such as promethazine
work quite well for motion sickness, although they can cause significant drowsiness.
Ginger
root is commonly thought to be an effective anti-emetic. One trial review indicated that sucking on crystallized ginger or sipping ginger tea can help to relieve the nausea, while an earlier study indicated that it had only a placebo effect. Tests conducted on the television shows Mythbusters
and Food Detectives
support the theory that ginger is an effective treatment for the nausea caused by motion sickness.
Ginger is reported to calm the pyloric valve located at the base of the stomach. This relaxation of the valve allows the stomach to operate normally whereby the contents will enter the small intestine instead of being retained within the stomach. It is this undesirable effect of retention in the stomach that eventually results in vomiting. Vomiting is not seasickness but is only a symptom or side effect; although the effect most commonly associated with seasickness.
This link reports on a ginger study; notice the comment about less vomiting when taking ginger, but not less nausea.
Stugeron is not available in the U.S. either over-the-counter or by prescription. It has been implicated in triggering palsy and has been banned by the FDA.
has done extensive research on the causes and treatments for motion sickness. One very promising looking treatment is for the person suffering from motion sickness to wear LCD shutter glasses that create a stroboscopic vision of 4 Hz with a dwell of 10 milliseconds.
Vestibular system
The vestibular system, which contributes to balance in most mammals and to the sense of spatial orientation, is the sensory system that provides the leading contribution about movement and sense of balance. Together with the cochlea, a part of the auditory system, it constitutes the labyrinth of...
's sense of movement. Depending on the cause it can also be referred to as seasickness, car sickness, simulation sickness or airsickness
Airsickness
Airsickness is a sensation which is induced by air travel. It is a specific form of motion sickness, and is considered a normal response in healthy individuals...
.
Dizziness
Dizziness
Dizziness refers to an impairment in spatial perception and stability. The term is somewhat imprecise. It can be used to mean vertigo, presyncope, disequilibrium, or a non-specific feeling such as giddiness or foolishness....
, fatigue, and nausea
Nausea
Nausea , is a sensation of unease and discomfort in the upper stomach with an involuntary urge to vomit. It often, but not always, precedes vomiting...
are the most common symptom
Symptom
A symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality...
s of motion sickness. Sopite syndrome
Sopite syndrome
The sopite syndrome is a neurological disorder that relates symptoms of fatigue, drowsiness, and mood changes to prolonged periods of motion. The sopite syndrome has been attributed to motion-induced drowsiness such as that experienced by a baby when rocked...
in which a person feels fatigue or tiredness is also associated with motion sickness. Nausea in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
means seasickness (naus means ship). If the motion causing nausea is not resolved, the sufferer will frequently vomit
Vomiting
Vomiting is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose...
. Unlike ordinary sickness, vomiting in motion sickness tends not to relieve the nausea.
Occurrence
About 33% of people are susceptible to motion sickness even in mild circumstances such as being on a boat in calm water, although nearly 66% of people are susceptible in more severe conditions. Individuals and animals without a functional vestibular systemVestibular system
The vestibular system, which contributes to balance in most mammals and to the sense of spatial orientation, is the sensory system that provides the leading contribution about movement and sense of balance. Together with the cochlea, a part of the auditory system, it constitutes the labyrinth of...
are immune to motion sickness.
Motion sickness on the sea
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
can result from being in the berth
Berth (sleeping)
The word berth was originally used to describe beds and sleeping accommodation on boats and ships and has now been extended to refer to similar facilities on trains, aircraft and buses.-Beds in boats or ships:...
of a rolling boat without being able to see the horizon
Horizon
The horizon is the apparent line that separates earth from sky, the line that divides all visible directions into two categories: those that intersect the Earth's surface, and those that do not. At many locations, the true horizon is obscured by trees, buildings, mountains, etc., and the resulting...
. Sudden jerky movements tend to be worse for provoking motion sickness than slower smooth ones, because they disrupt the fluid balance more. A "corkscrewing" boat will upset more people than one that is gliding smoothly across the oncoming waves. Cars driving rapidly around winding roads or up and down a series of hills will upset more people than cars that are moving over smooth, straight roads. Looking down into one's lap to consult a map or attempting to read a book while a passenger in a car may also bring on motion sickness. Motion sickness is greatest for vertical sinusoidal motion in the frequency range of 0.05–0.8 Hz and is maximal at 0.167 Hz.
Cause
The most common hypothesis for the cause of motion sickness is that it functions as a defense mechanism against neurotoxinNeurotoxin
A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells , usually by interacting with membrane proteins such as ion channels. Some sources are more general, and define the effect of neurotoxins as occurring at nerve tissue...
s. The area postrema
Area postrema
The area postrema is a medullary structure in the brain that controls vomiting. Its privileged location in the brain also allows the area postrema to play a vital role in the control of autonomic functions by the central nervous system.-Anatomy:...
in the brain
Human brain
The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...
is responsible for inducing vomiting when poisons are detected, and for resolving conflicts between vision and balance. When feeling motion but not seeing it (for example, in a ship with no windows), the inner ear
Inner ear
The inner ear is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear. In mammals, it consists of the bony labyrinth, a hollow cavity in the temporal bone of the skull with a system of passages comprising two main functional parts:...
transmits to the brain that it senses motion, but the eyes tell the brain that everything is still. As a result of the discordance, the brain will come to the conclusion that one of them is hallucinating and further conclude that the hallucination is due to poison ingestion. The brain
Human brain
The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...
responds by inducing vomiting, to clear the supposed toxin.
Types
Motion sickness can be divided into three categories:- Motion sickness caused by motion that is felt but not seen
- Motion sickness caused by motion that is seen but not felt
- Motion sickness caused when both systems detect motion but they do not correspond.
Motion is felt but not seen
In these cases, motion is sensed by the vestibular systemVestibular system
The vestibular system, which contributes to balance in most mammals and to the sense of spatial orientation, is the sensory system that provides the leading contribution about movement and sense of balance. Together with the cochlea, a part of the auditory system, it constitutes the labyrinth of...
and hence the motion is felt, but no motion or little motion is detected by the visual system
Visual system
The visual system is the part of the central nervous system which enables organisms to process visual detail, as well as enabling several non-image forming photoresponse functions. It interprets information from visible light to build a representation of the surrounding world...
.
Carsickness or Car sickness
A specific form of motion sickness, car sickness is quite common and often evidenced by the inability to read a map or book during travel. Car sickness results from the sensory conflict arising in the brain from differing sensory inputs. The eyes mostly see the interior of the car which is motionless while the vestibular system of the inner ear senses motion as the vehicle goes around corners or over hills and even small bumps. Therefore the effect is worst when looking down but may be lessened by looking outside of the vehicle.Airsickness
Airsickness is a sensation which is induced by air travel. It is a specific form of motion sickness and is considered a normal response in healthy individuals. Airsickness occurs when the central nervous systemCentral nervous system
The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...
receives conflicting messages from the body (including the inner ear
Inner ear
The inner ear is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear. In mammals, it consists of the bony labyrinth, a hollow cavity in the temporal bone of the skull with a system of passages comprising two main functional parts:...
, eye
Human eye
The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
s and muscle
Muscle
Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...
s) affecting balance
Balance (ability)
In biomechanics, balance is an ability to maintain the center of gravity of a body within the base of support with minimal postural sway. When exercising the ability to balance, one is said to be balancing....
and equilibrium
Equilibrioception
Equilibrioception or sense of balance is one of the physiological senses. It helps prevent humans and animals from falling over when walking or standing still. Balance is the result of a number of body systems working together: the eyes , ears and the body's sense of where it is in space ideally...
. It is essentially the same as carsickness but occurs in an airplane. However, some significant differences are that an airplane may bank and tilt sharply and due to the small window sizes, a passenger is likely to see only the stationary interior of the plane. Another factor is that while in flight, there is little that can be seen outside of the windows that would indicate motion to the visual system.
Sea-sickness
Seasickness is a form of motion sickness characterized by a feeling of nauseaNausea
Nausea , is a sensation of unease and discomfort in the upper stomach with an involuntary urge to vomit. It often, but not always, precedes vomiting...
and, in extreme cases, vertigo
Vertigo (medical)
Vertigo is a type of dizziness, where there is a feeling of motion when one is stationary. The symptoms are due to a dysfunction of the vestibular system in the inner ear...
experienced after spending time on a craft on water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
. It is, again, essentially the same as carsickness, though the motion of a watercraft tends to be more constant. It is typically brought on by the rocking motion of the craft or movement while immersed in water. As with airsickness, it can be difficult to visually detect motion even if one looks outside of the boat as water does not offer fixed points with which to visually judge motion. Some people experience car sickness yet they don't experience seasickness.
Centrifuges
Rotating devices such as centrifuges used in astronaut training and amusement park rides such as the RotorRotor (ride)
The Rotor is an amusement park ride, designed by German engineer Ernst Hoffmeister in the late 1940s. The ride was first demonstrated at Oktoberfest 1949, and was exhibited at fairs and events throughout Europe during the 1950s and 1960s...
and the Gravitron
Gravitron
The Gravitron is an amusement ride, most commonly found as a portable ride at fairs and carnivals. The Gravitron first appeared at Morey's Piers in 1983 and quickly became a fixture at amusement parks in many countries. It is a modification of an earlier ride called the Rotor...
can cause motion sickness in many people. While the interior of the centrifuge does not appear to move, one will experience a sense of movement. In addition, centrifugal force
Centrifugal force
Centrifugal force can generally be any force directed outward relative to some origin. More particularly, in classical mechanics, the centrifugal force is an outward force which arises when describing the motion of objects in a rotating reference frame...
can cause the vestibular system to give one the sense that downward is in the direction away from the center of the centrifuge rather than the true downward direction.
Dizziness due to spinning
When one spins and stops suddenly, fluid in the inner ear continues to rotate causing a sense of continued spinning while one's visual system no longer detects motion.Motion that is seen but not felt
In these cases, motion is detected by the visual systemVisual system
The visual system is the part of the central nervous system which enables organisms to process visual detail, as well as enabling several non-image forming photoresponse functions. It interprets information from visible light to build a representation of the surrounding world...
and hence the motion is seen, but no motion or little motion is sensed by the vestibular system
Vestibular system
The vestibular system, which contributes to balance in most mammals and to the sense of spatial orientation, is the sensory system that provides the leading contribution about movement and sense of balance. Together with the cochlea, a part of the auditory system, it constitutes the labyrinth of...
. Motion sickness arising from such situations has been referred to as Visually Induced Motion Sickness (VIMS).
Motion sickness due to films and other video
This type of sickness is particularly prevalent when susceptible people are watching films on large screens such as ImaxIMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
but may also occur in regular format theaters or even when watching TV. For the sake of novelty, Imax and other panoramic type theaters often show dramatic motions such as flying over a landscape or riding a roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
. There is little way to prevent this type of motion sickness except to close one's eyes during such scenes or to avoid such movies.
In regular format theaters, an example of a movie that caused motion sickness in many people is The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur footage. The film was produced by the Haxan Films production company. The film relates the story of three student filmmakers The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur...
. Theater patrons were warned of its possible nauseating effects, cautioning pregnant women in particular. In this case, a camcorder
Camcorder
A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...
was used to film the movie. As the camera was hand held, the camera was subjected to considerably more motion than the average movie camera.
Home movies, often filmed with a hand-held camera, also tend to cause motion sickness in those that view them. The camera-person rarely notices this during filming since his/her sense of motion matches the motion seen through the camera viewfinder. Those who view the film afterward only see the movement, which may be considerable, without any sense of movement. Using the zoom function seems to contribute to motion sickness as well as zooming is not a normal function of the eye. The use of a tripod or a camcorder with image stabilization
Image stabilization
Image stabilization is a family of techniques used to reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera during exposure. Specifically, it compensates for pan and tilt of a camera or other imaging device. It is used in image-stabilized binoculars, still and video cameras, and astronomical...
technology while filming can minimize this effect.
Simulation sickness
Simulation sickness, or simulator sickness, is a condition where a person exhibits symptoms similar to motion sickness caused by playing computer/simulation/video games.The most common theory for the cause of simulation sickness is that the illusion of motion created by the virtual world, combined with the absence of motion detected by the inner ear, causes the area postrema
Area postrema
The area postrema is a medullary structure in the brain that controls vomiting. Its privileged location in the brain also allows the area postrema to play a vital role in the control of autonomic functions by the central nervous system.-Anatomy:...
in the human brain
Human brain
The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...
to infer that one is hallucinating and further conclude that the hallucination is due to poison ingestion. The brain responds by inducing nausea and mass vomiting, to clear the supposed toxin. According to this theory, simulation sickness is just another form of motion sickness.
The symptoms are often described as quite similar to that of motion sickness, and can range from headache, drowsiness, nausea, dizziness, vomiting and sweating. Research done at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
had students play Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
for less than an hour, and found that up to 50 percent felt sick afterwards.
In a study conducted by U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences in a report published May 1995 titled "Technical Report 1027 - Simulator Sickness in Virtual Environments", out of 742 pilot exposures from 11 military flight simulators, "approximately half of the pilots (334) reported post-effects of some kind: 250 (34%) reported that symptoms dissipated in less than 1 hour, 44 (6%) reported that symptoms lasted longer than 4 hours, and 28 (4%) reported that symptoms lasted longer than 6 hours. There were also 4 (1%) reported cases of spontaneously occurring flashbacks."
The phenomenon was well known in popular culture before it was known as simulation sickness. In the 1983 comedy film Joysticks
Joysticks (film)
Joysticks is a 1983 American comedy film directed by Greydon Clark.-Plot:Jefferson Bailey runs the most popular video arcade in town, much to the chagrin of local businessman Joseph Rutter . With his two bumbling nephews, Rutter aims to frame Bailey and have his business shut down...
, the manager of a local video arcade says, "The reason why I never play any of these games, well, they make me physically ill. I mean, every time I look in one of the screens, they make me dizzy."
Motion sickness due to Virtual Reality
Motion sickness due to virtual realityVirtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
is very similar to simulation sickness and motion sickness due to films. In virtual reality, however, the effect is made more acute as all external reference points are blocked from vision, the simulated images are 3-dimensional
Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
and in some cases stereo sound that may also give a sense of motion. The world's most advanced simulator, the NADS-1, located at the National Advanced Driving Simulator is capable of accurately stimulating the vestibular system with a 360 degree horizontal field of view and 16 degree of freedom motion base. Studies have shown that exposure to rotational motions in a virtual environement can cause significant increases in nausea and other symptoms of motion sickness.
Space sickness
Space sickness was effectively unknown during the earliest spaceflights, as these were undertaken in very cramped conditions; it seems to be aggravated by being able to freely move around, and so is more common in larger spacecraft. Around 60% of Space ShuttleSpace Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
astronauts currently experience it on their first flight; the first case is now suspected to be Gherman Titov
Gherman Titov
Gherman Stepanovich Titov was a Soviet cosmonaut who, on August 6, 1961, became the second human to orbit the Earth aboard Vostok 2, preceded by Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1...
, in August 1961 onboard Vostok 2
Vostok 2
Vostok 2 was a Soviet space mission which carried cosmonaut Gherman Titov into orbit for a full day in order to study the effects of a more prolonged period of weightlessness on the human body...
, who reported dizziness and nausea. However, the first significant cases were in early Apollo flights; Frank Borman
Frank Borman
Frank Frederick Borman, II is a retired NASA astronaut and engineer, best remembered as the Commander of Apollo 8, the first mission to fly around the Moon, making him, along with fellow crew mates Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, the first of only 24 humans to do so...
on Apollo 8
Apollo 8
Apollo 8, the second manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first human spaceflight to leave Earth orbit; the first to be captured by and escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first crewed voyage to return to Earth from another celestial...
and Rusty Schweickart
Rusty Schweickart
Russell Louis "Rusty" Schweickart aka Schweikart is an American former astronaut, research scientist, US Air Force fighter pilot, business and government executive...
on Apollo 9
Apollo 9
Apollo 9, the third manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first flight of the Command/Service Module with the Lunar Module...
. Both experienced identifiable and reasonably severe symptoms—in the latter case causing the mission plan to be modified.
Coriolis effect
When moving within a rotating reference frame such as in a centrifuge or environment where gravity is simulated with centrifugal force, the coriolis effectCoriolis effect
In physics, the Coriolis effect is a deflection of moving objects when they are viewed in a rotating reference frame. In a reference frame with clockwise rotation, the deflection is to the left of the motion of the object; in one with counter-clockwise rotation, the deflection is to the right...
causes a sense of motion in the vestibular system that does not match the motion that is seen.
Sometimes when riding a vehicle for a long time on a badly maintained road at a very slow (10–20 km/h) speed the two senses fail to correspond. Due to the poor road quality the vehicle will jerk too much giving a sense of severe motion to the inner ear. But due to the slow speed the eye doesn't sense proportional amount of motion.
Activity
One common suggestion is to simply look out of the window of the moving vehicle and to gaze toward the horizon in the direction of travel. This helps to re-orient the inner sense of balanceEquilibrioception
Equilibrioception or sense of balance is one of the physiological senses. It helps prevent humans and animals from falling over when walking or standing still. Balance is the result of a number of body systems working together: the eyes , ears and the body's sense of where it is in space ideally...
by providing a visual reaffirmation of motion.
In the night, or in a ship without windows, it is helpful to simply close one's eyes, or if possible, take a nap. This resolves the input conflict between the eyes and the inner ear. Napping also helps prevent psychogenic effects (i.e. the effect of sickness being magnified by thinking about it).
A simple method for relieving common and mild car sickness is chewing. Chewing gum has an uncanny effectiveness for reducing car sickness in those affected. Chewing gum, however, is not the only thing one may chew to relieve mild effects of car sickness, snacking on sweets or just chewing in general seems to reduce adverse effects of the conflict between vision and balance.
Fresh, cool air can also relieve motion sickness slightly, although it is likely this is related to avoiding foul odors which can worsen nausea.
Medication
Over-the-counter and prescription medications are readily available, such as Dramamine (dimenhydrinateDimenhydrinate
Dimenhydrinate is an over-the-counter drug used to prevent nausea and motion sickness...
), Stugeron (cinnarizine
Cinnarizine
Cinnarizine is an antihistamine which is mainly used for the control of nausea and vomiting due to motion sickness. Cinnarizine was first synthesized by Janssen Pharmaceutica in 1955...
), and Bonine/Antivert (meclozine
Meclozine
Meclozine is an antihistamine considered to be an antiemetic. It is sold under the brand names Bonine, Bonamine, Antivert, Postafen, Sea Legs, and Dramamine . Emesafene is a combination of meclozine and pyridoxine...
).
Scopolamine
Scopolamine
Scopolamine, also known as levo-duboisine, and hyoscine, is a tropane alkaloid drug with muscarinic antagonist effects. It is among the secondary metabolites of plants from Solanaceae family of plants, such as henbane, jimson weed and Angel's Trumpets , and corkwood...
is effective and is sometimes used in the form of transdermal patch
Transdermal patch
A transdermal patch is a medicated adhesive patch that is placed on the skin to deliver a specific dose of medication through the skin and into the bloodstream. Often, this promotes healing to an injured area of the body. An advantage of a transdermal drug delivery route over other types of...
es (1.5 mg) or as a newer tablet form (0.4 mg). The selection of a transdermal patch or scopolamine tablet is determined by a doctor after consideration of the patient's age, weight, and length of treatment time required.
Interestingly, many pharmacological treatments which are effective for nausea and vomiting in some medical conditions may not be effective for motion sickness. For example, metoclopramide
Metoclopramide
Metoclopramide is an antiemetic and gastroprokinetic agent. It is commonly used to treat nausea and vomiting, to facilitate gastric emptying in people with gastroparesis, and as a treatment for the gastric stasis often associated with migraine headaches.-Medical uses:Metoclopramide is commonly...
and prochlorperazine
Prochlorperazine
Prochlorperazine is a dopamine receptor antagonist that belongs to the phenothiazine class of antipsychotic agents that are used for the antiemetic treatment of nausea and vertigo. It is also a highly-potent typical antipsychotic, 10-20x more potent than chlorpromazine...
, although widely used for nausea, are ineffective for motion-sickness prevention and treatment. This is due to the physiology of the CNS
Central nervous system
The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...
vomiting centre and its inputs from the chemoreceptor trigger zone versus the inner ear. Sedating anti-histamine medications such as promethazine
Promethazine
Promethazine is a first-generation antihistamine of the phenothiazine family. The drug has anti-motion sickness, antiemetic, and anticholinergic effects, as well as a strong sedative effect and in some countries is prescribed for insomnia when benzodiazepines are contraindicated...
work quite well for motion sickness, although they can cause significant drowsiness.
Ginger
Ginger
Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
root is commonly thought to be an effective anti-emetic. One trial review indicated that sucking on crystallized ginger or sipping ginger tea can help to relieve the nausea, while an earlier study indicated that it had only a placebo effect. Tests conducted on the television shows Mythbusters
MythBusters
MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
and Food Detectives
Food Detectives
Food Detectives a food science show hosted by Ted Allen that airs in North America on Food Network. Ted Allen, backed by research conducted by Popular Science magazine, investigates various food-related beliefs, such as the validity of the five-second rule or the effectiveness of ginger as a means...
support the theory that ginger is an effective treatment for the nausea caused by motion sickness.
Ginger is reported to calm the pyloric valve located at the base of the stomach. This relaxation of the valve allows the stomach to operate normally whereby the contents will enter the small intestine instead of being retained within the stomach. It is this undesirable effect of retention in the stomach that eventually results in vomiting. Vomiting is not seasickness but is only a symptom or side effect; although the effect most commonly associated with seasickness.
This link reports on a ginger study; notice the comment about less vomiting when taking ginger, but not less nausea.
Stugeron is not available in the U.S. either over-the-counter or by prescription. It has been implicated in triggering palsy and has been banned by the FDA.
Electronic
As astronauts frequently have motion sickness, NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
has done extensive research on the causes and treatments for motion sickness. One very promising looking treatment is for the person suffering from motion sickness to wear LCD shutter glasses that create a stroboscopic vision of 4 Hz with a dwell of 10 milliseconds.
External links
- Motion Sickness from MedlinePlusMedlinePlusMedlinePlus is a free Web site that provides consumer health information for patients, families, and Health care providers. The site brings together information from the United States National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health , other U.S. government agencies, and...
- Motion Sickness Prevention and Treatment, from a Medical College of WisconsinMedical College of WisconsinMedical College of Wisconsin is a private, freestanding medical school and graduate school located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was formerly affiliated with Marquette University....
website - Visually induced motion sickness research
- Golding JF., Motion Sickness Susceptibility Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical 129 (2006) 67–76
- Ji, J.T.T., So, R.H.Y. and Cheung, R.T.F. (2009) Isolating the effects of vection and optokinetic nystagmus on visually induced motion sickness during exposure to optokinetic stimuli. Human Factors, 51(5), pp. 739–751.
- Rolnick, A., & Bles, W. (1989). Performance and well being under tilting conditions: the effects of visual reference and artificial horizon. Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, 60, 779-785
- Rolnick, A. & Gordon, C. R. (1991). The effects of motion induced sickness on military performance. In R. Gal & J. Mangelsdorff (Eds.), Handbook of Military Psychology. Chichester: Wiley.
- Rolnick, A., Lubow, R.E., 1991. Why is the driver rarely sick? The role of controllability in motion sickness. Ergonomics 34, 867–879.
- So, R.H.Y., Lo, W.T. and Ho, A.T.K., (2002) "Effects of navigation speed on the level of cybersickness caused by an immersive virtual environment". Human Factors, 43(3), 2002, pp. 452–261.