Habituation and Motion Sickness

Abstract

The vestibular, cerebellar, and reticular systems are central in importance, in motion sickness and habituation, to the effects of motion. Nuclear medicine single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) studies of cerebral blood flow and power spectral electroencephalographic recordings during motion sickness were used to determine alterations in the central nervous system. The rotating chair with and without visual stimulation was used to study the rate of habituation and the effect of antimotion sickness medications on this rate. An increase of theta waves over the frontal cortex indicated a decreased activation of the higher centers during motion sickness. Motion sickness also produces an increase of blood flow in the central cerebellum that has connections to the reticular system. This increase in cerebellar activity is relayed to the reticular system whereby neural recruitment builds up to trigger the vomiting center, producing motion sickness. Habituation may be a conditioned compensatory activation of the reticular neurons that prevents this disruption of normal activation. The rate of habituation when motion sickness was prevented by scopolamine was slowed, indicating that, if the central nervous system is not challenged by disruption of normal activation, it does not produce the compensatory reactions that result in habituation.

Motion Sickness: Current Knowledge and Recent Advance

“…Transient MS habituation can be induced in animals and humans by repeated or prolonged motion stimulation and may generally last for several weeks . The habituation acquired under particular stimulus conditions is normally highly specific, while the time‐course of habituation acquirement for linear acceleration is quite different from that for angular acceleration in humans . Repeated exposure may produce more sufficient habituation than single prolonged stimulation, but desensitization to one provocative motion could not be transferred to a more severe motion stimulus .…”

“…Recent studies have demonstrated that preflight virtual reality training is also effective against space MS and disorientation . As sufficient activation of vestibular system is the prerequisite to produce novel “internal model,” anti‐MS drugs are not recommended during MS habituation training process .…”

Sjóveiki - Yfirlitsgrein

“…Lykilorðið í meðferð sjóveiki er þjálfun sem flýtir aðlögun að hinu hreyfiríka umhverfi. 43 Engin lyf eða efni koma þar við sögu. Aðlögun að hreyfiríku umhverfi á sjó gerist strax og komið er um borð í skip eða bát.…”

Controlling motion sickness and spatial disorientation and enhancing vestibular rehabilitation with a user‐worn see‐through display

“…However, it has several drawbacks; it must be applied at least 4 to 6 hours before exposure to rough seas, about 10% of individuals who use it on a long-term basis experience allergic contact dermatitis, there is some evidence of decreased human performance on cognitive tasks when using the drug, and repeated use is associated with transient impaired near focusing and diminished visual acuity (32). It has also been demonstrated that the rate of habituation is slowed, indicating that if the central nervous system is not challenged by disruption of normal activation, it does not produce the compensatory reactions that result in habituation (33). …”