Motion sickness may be caused by a combination of movement and visual perception, rather than eye/ear confusion. Professor Tom Stoffregen’s research suggests that people who move around, even if they are strapped in, are more likely to experience motion sickness. Some drugs, such as antihistamines and tranquilizers, may help by reducing restlessness.
Motion sickness is often attributed to a lack of synchrony between what your eyes see and what your ears hear. So, for example, if you’re in your car reading a book, the bumps along the road you feel confuse your brain. You’re still in your seat, but your ears are telling you that you should move. This confusion can lead to hot flashes, excessive sweating, nausea and, in worst cases, you have to stop the car and throw up.
Some things that seem to help motion sickness are driving, since your eyes and ears are working cooperatively, or sitting in the front seat where you can watch the road. If you get sick on a ship, it’s best to stay in the middle part of the ship, which tends to rock less. Medications for this condition are typically anti-nausea medications, antihistamines or tranquilizers, which often block the nausea response.
While this theory as to why motion sickness occurs has been generally accepted, questions remain as to why some people get this condition while others don’t. Also, why do some groups seem more susceptible than others? Children ages 3 to 10, pregnant or menstruating women, and women in general, tend to be more affected by these symptoms. Also, why does the stomach respond to brain confusion in this matter?
In 2006, Tom Stoffregen, a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Kinesiology, began to study motion sickness from a new perspective. Instead of eye/ear confusion, Stoffregen focused on studying students who weren’t in moving situations by changing visual perceptions, sometimes rapidly. Some students even played X-box games to see if visual perception alone could influence this condition.
His findings are extremely interesting and may offer help to those suffering from motion sickness. Note that people who have gotten sick have always been moving around, and sometimes in strange ways. They may wriggle free, even if they are firmly strapped to a chair or wall, or they will wiggle their head, toes and feet. In tests where students were unprotected and allowed to move, those who moved always began to experience the traditional symptoms of motion sickness.
This finding is intriguing as it suggests that the combination of a person’s movement and visual perception may be more responsible for motion sickness than eye/ear confusion. A pregnant woman might adjust her body several times to feel comfortable about her during a car ride, as would a woman with cramps. Naturally, she hangs out on cruise ships, which suggests a higher incidence of motion sickness among all groups. If Stoffregen’s theories are right, battling this condition, especially in a car, can mean trying to sit as still as possible.
Stoffregen’s theory could also explain why some drugs like antihistamines seem to help. A person taking meclizine or benadryl, for example, tends to be quite sleepy, which could quiet restless movements. People who are aided by tranquilizers tend to have a similar reaction and may not feel the need to fidget.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
