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
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and ClinicalAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Effects of pH and dose on nasal absorption of scopolamine hydrobromide in human subjects.Pharm. Res. 2000; 17: 947-974
- Phenytoin for the prevention of motion sickness.Med. J. Aust. 2003; 178: 535-536
- Vestibular autonomic regulation including motion sickness and the mechanism of vomiting.Curr. Opin. Neurol. 1999; 12: 29-33
- Advances in neuro-otology.Curr. Opin. Neurol. 1998; 11: 1-3
- Motion sickness.in: Ernsting J. Nicholson A.N. Rainford D.S. Aviation Medicine. Butterworth Ltd, Oxford, UK1999
- Korean hand acupressure for motion sickness in prehospital trauma care, a prospective, randomized, double-blinded trial in a geriatric population.Anesth. Analg. 2004; 98: 220-223
- Modelling motion sickness and subjective vertical mismatch detailed for vertical motions.Brain Res. Bull. 1998; 47: 537-542
- Motion sickness symptoms in a ship motion simulator, effects of inside, outside, and no view.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2005; 76: 1111-1118
- Both migraine and motion sickness may be due to low brain levels of serotonin.Neurology. 2005; 654: E9-E10
- Chlorpheniramine for motion sickness.J. Vestib. Res. 2004; 14: 53-61
- Desensitization to strong vestibular stimuli improves tolerance to simulated aircraft motion.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2005; 76: 1099-1104
- Motion sickness susceptibility and aerobic fitness, a longitudinal study.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1990; 61: 201-204
- Failure of cetirizine and fexofenadine to prevent motion sickness.Ann. Pharmacother. 2003; 37: 173-177
- Autogenic-feedback training exercise is superior to promethazine for control of motion sickness symptoms.J. Clin. Pharmacol. 2000; 40: 1154-1165
- Prediction of space motion sickness susceptibility by disconjugate eye torsion in parabolic flight.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1991; 62: 201-205
- The effects of age and sex on susceptibility to motion sickness.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2001; 72: 13-20
- Stimulation of the semicircular canals via the rotary chair as a means to test pharmacologic countermeasures for space motion sickness.Otol. Neurotol. 2004; 25: 740-745
Draper, M.H., 1998. The adaptive effect of virtual interfaces, vestibulo-ocular reflex and simulator sickness. PhD Thesis, University of Washington.
- Effect of tryptophan depletion on symptoms of motion sickness in migraineurs.Neurology. 2005; 654: 620-622
- A genetic polymorphism of the alpha2-adrenergic receptor increases autonomic responses to stress.J. Appl. Physiol. 2004; 96: 2231-2239
- Sex differences in tolerance to visually-induced motion sickness.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2005; 76: 642-646
- Can tamoxifen relieve motion sickness?.Ann. Oncol. 2005; 16: 1713-1714
- Scopolamine patch to prevent seasickness, clinical response vs. plasma concentration in sailors.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2005; 76: 766-770
- The effect of motion direction on motion sickness induced by low frequency linear oscillation with subjects seated upright.in: Proceedings of the UK Informal Group meeting on Human Response to Vibration, Army Personnel Research Establishment, Farnborough UK. 1993
- Motion sickness susceptibility questionnaire revised and its relationship to other forms of sickness.Brain Res. Bull. 1998; 47: 507-516
- Motion sickness.Curr. Opin. Neurol. 2005; 18: 29-34
- Comparison of the effects of a selective muscarinic receptor antagonist and hyoscine scopolamine on motion sickness, skin conductance and heart rate.Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 1997; 43: 633-6337
- The effects of motion direction, body axis, and posture, on motion sickness induced by low frequency linear oscillation.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1995; 66: 1046-1051
- A motion sickness maximum around 0.2 Hz frequency range of horizontal translational oscillation.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2001; 72: 188-192
- Motion sickness and tilts of the inertial force environment, active suspension systems versus active passengers.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2003; 74: 220-227
- Motion sickness susceptibility fluctuates through the menstrual cycle.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2005; 76: 970-973
- Seasickness susceptibility, personality factors, and salivation.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1994; 65: 610-614
- The effects of dimenhydrinate, cinnarizine and transdermal scopolamine on performance.J. Psychopharmacol. 2001; 15: 167-172
- Evaluation of betahistine for the prevention of seasickness, effect on vestibular function, psychomotor performance and efficacy at sea.J. Vestib. Res. 2003; 13: 103-111
- Visual field effects on motion sickness in cars.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2004; 75: 739-748
- Motion sickness and development of synergy within the spatial orientation system. A hypothetical unifying concept.Brain Res. Bull. 1998; 47: 475-480
- Vestibular, central and gastral triggering of emesis, a study on individual susceptibility in rats.Acta Otorhinolaryngol. 1992; 112: 927-931
- Investigation of the anti-motion sickness effect of 3-hydroxypyridine derivatives.Aviakosm Ekol. Med. 2005; 39: 45-50
ISO 2631, 1997. International Standard ISO 2631-1, 1997E. Mechanical vibration and shock. Evaluation of human exposure to whole-body vibration: Part 1. General requirements. 2nd ed. Corrected and reprinted. Geneva, International Organisation for Standardization.
- Variables of movement amplitude and frequency in the development of motion sickness in Suncus murinus.Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 1999; 64: 115-122
- Opioid receptor involvement in the adaptation to motion sickness in Suncus murinus.Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 2001; 68: 761-767
- The effect of serotonin and serotonin receptor antagonists on motion sickness in Suncus murinus.Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 2002; 73: 979-989
- Importance of the vestibular system in visually induced nausea and self-vection.J. Vestib. Res. 1999; 9: 83-87
- Fos expression in the vestibular brainstem, what one marker can tell us about the network.Brain Res. Rev. 2005; 50: 200-211
- Gender differences in simulator sickness incidence, implications for military virtual reality systems.Safe J. 1995; 25: 69-76
- Scopolamine nasal spray in motion sickness, a randomised, controlled, and crossover study for the comparison of two scopolamine nasal sprays with oral dimenhydrinate and placebo.Eur. J. Pharm. Sci. 2001; 13: 227-232
- Effects of ethnicity and gender on motion sickness susceptibility.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2005; 76: 1051-1057
- Prediction of the incidence of motion sickness from the magnitude, frequency, and duration of vertical oscillation.J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1987; 82: 957-966
- A survey of the occurrence of motion sickness amongst passengers at sea.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1988; 59: 399-406
- Dexamethasone prevents postoperative nausea and vomiting more effectively in women with motion sickness.Can. J. Anaesth. 2003; 50: 232-237
- Laboratory tests of motion sickness susceptibility.in: Motion Sickness, Mechanisms, Prediction, Prevention and Treatment. AGARD Conference Proceedings. vol. 372. 1984: 29-1-29-9
- The effects of serotonin 5-HT3 receptor antagonists on gastric tachyarrhythmia and the symptoms of motion sickness.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2000; 71: 1111-1114
- Protein-predominant meals inhibit the development of gastric tachyarrhythmia, nausea and the symptoms of motion sickness.Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. 2004; 19: 583-590
- Effects of ginger on motion sickness and gastric slow-wave dysrhythmias induced by circular vection.Am. J. Physiol.: Gasterointest. Liver Physiol. 2003; 284: G481-G489
- The relationship of diet to airsickness.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1995; 66: 537-541
- Prevention of motion sickness with rizatriptan, a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study.Med. Sci. Monit. 2005; 12: PI1-PI7
- Efficacy of acupressure and acustimulation bands for the prevention of motion sickness.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2004; 75: 227-234
- Another function of the inner ear, facilitation of the emetic response to poisons.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1983; 54: 208-211
- The effect of a susceptibility to motion sickness on the side effects of cancer chemotherapy.Cancer. 1985; 55: 2766-2770
- Scopolamine bioavailability in combined oral and transdermal delivery.J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 2001; 296: 121-123
- Mal de debarquement and posture, reduced reliance on vestibular and visual cues.Laryngoscope. 2004; 114: 581-586
- Fos induction in the amygdala by vestibular information during hypergravity stimulation.Brain Res. 2003; 986: 114-123
- Personality traits and motion sickness susceptibility.in: Paper Presented at the Annual Psychology Research Forum at the Kings Fund. University of Westminster, London2006
- Seasickness, its causes and treatment.Lancet. 1881; ii: 1151-1152
- Motion sickness incidence as a function of the frequency and acceleration of vertical sinusoidal motion.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1974; 45: 366-369
- Motion sickness, a synthesis and evaluation of the sensory conflict theory.Comp. J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 1990; 68: 294-303
- μ-opiate receptor agonists — a new pharmacological approach to prevent motion sickness?.Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 2006; 61: 27-30
- Gene expression in autonomic areas of the medulla and the central nucleus of the amygdala in rats during and after space flight.Neuroscience. 2004; 124: 53-69
- Vestibular–autonomic control in man, short- and long-latency effects on cardiovascular function.J. Vestib. Res. 2003; 13: 25-37
- An ecological theory of motion sickness and postural instability.Ecol. Psychol. 1991; 3: 195-240
- Motion Sickness. Academic Press, London1975
- Comparison of the neurokinin-1 antagonist GR205171, alone and in combination with the 5-HT3 antagonist ondansetron, hyoscine and placebo in the prevention of motion-induced nausea in man.Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 2000; 50: 61-64
- Why is the driver rarely sick ? The role of controllability in motion sickness.Ergonomics. 1991; 34: 867-879
- Orthostatic intolerance and motion sickness after parabolic flight.J. Appl. Physiol. 2001; 90: 67-82
- A randomised, placebo-controlled study comparing two formulations of dimenhydrinate with respect to efficacy in motion sickness and sedation.Arzneimittelforschung. 2002; 52: 529-536
- Cerebral hypoperfusion precedes nausea during centrifugation.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2005; 76: 91-96
- Prokinetic effects of erythromycin after antimotion sickness drugs.J. Clin. Pharmacol. 2000; 40: 347-353
- Chinese hyper-susceptibility to vection-induced motion sickness.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1993; 64: 827-830
- Mechanisms and treatment of motion illness.in: Davis C.J. Lake-Bakaar G.V. Grahame-Smith D.G. Nausea and Vomiting, Mechanisms and Treatment. Springer-Verlag, Berlin1986: 110-129
- Preflight virtual reality training as a countermeasure for space motion sickness and disorientation.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2005; 76: 352-356
- Motion sickness, an evolutionary hypothesis.Science. 1977; 197: 493-495
- Motion sickness in public road transport, passenger behaviour and susceptibility.Ergonomics. 1999; 42: 444-461
- Influence of transdermal scopolamine on motion sickness during 7 days' exposure to heavy seas.Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 1985; 38: 301-305
- Differences in otolith and abdominal viscera graviceptor dynamics, implications for motion sickness and perceived body position.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1994; 65: 747-751
- The incidence and treatment of prehospital motion sickness.Prehosp. Emerg. Care. 2003; 7: 474-476
- Evaluation of 16 antimotion sickness drugs under controlled laboratory conditions.Aerosp. Med. 1969; 39: 1341-1344
- The effect of antimotion sickness drugs on habituation to motion.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1986; 57: 539-542
- Physiological basis and pharmacology of motion sickness, an update.Brain Res. Bull. 1998; 47: 395-406
- Behavioral methods of alleviating motion sickness, effectiveness of controlled breathing and music audiotape.J. Travel Med. 2003; 10: 108-112
- Suppression of sickness by controlled breathing during mild nauseogenic motion.Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 2003; 74: 998-1002
- Effect of a novel motion desensitization training regime and controlled breathing on habituation to motion sickness.Percept. Mot. Skills. 2005; 101: 244-256
- Adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex, subjective tilt, and motion sickness to head movements during short-radius centrifugation.J. Vestib. Res. 2003; 13: 65-77
- Effect of breathing supplemental oxygen on motion sickness in healthy adults.Mayo Clin. Proc. 2003; 78: 574-578
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 2006 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
