Abstract
Motion sickness can be caused by a variety of motion environments (e.g., cars, boats,
planes, tilting trains, funfair rides, space, virtual reality) and given a sufficiently
provocative motion stimulus almost anyone with a functioning vestibular system can
be made motion sick. Current hypotheses of the ‘Why?’ of motion sickness are still under investigation, the two most important being ‘toxin
detector’ and the ‘vestibular–cardiovascular reflex’. By contrast, the ‘How?’ of motion sickness is better understood in terms of mechanisms (e.g., ‘sensory conflict’
or similar) and stimulus properties (e.g., acceleration, frequency, duration, visual–vestibular
time-lag). Factors governing motion sickness susceptibility may be divided broadly
into two groups: (i) those related to the stimulus (motion type and provocative property
of stimulus); and (ii) those related to the individual person (habituation or sensitisation,
individual differences, protective behaviours, administration of anti-motion sickness
drugs). The aim of this paper is to review some of the more important factors governing
motion sickness susceptibility, with an emphasis on the personal rather than physical
stimulus factors.
Keywords
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© 2006 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
