Visual Vertigo, Motion Sickness, and Disorientation in Vehicles

Abstract

Environmental circumstances that result in ambiguity or conflict with the patterns of sensory stimulation may adversely affect the vestibular system. The effect of this conflict in sensory information may be dizziness, a sense of imbalance, nausea, and motion sickness sometimes even to seemingly minor daily head movement activities. In some, it is not only exposure to motion but also the observation of objects in motion around them such as in supermarket aisles or other places with visual commotion; this can lead to dizziness, nausea, or a feeling of motion sickness that is referred to as visual vertigo. All people with normal vestibular function can be made to experience motion sickness, although individual susceptibility varies widely and is at least partially heritable. Motorists learn to interpret sensory stimuli in the context of the car stabilized by its suspension and guided by steering. A type of motorist's disorientation occurs in some individuals who develop a heightened awareness of perceptions of motion in the automobile that makes them feel as though they may be rolling over on corners and as though they are veering on open highways or in streaming traffic. This article discusses the putative mechanisms, consequences and approach to managing patients with visual vertigo, motion sickness, and motorist's disorientation syndrome in the context of chronic dizziness and motion sensitivity.

Predicting Individual Susceptibility to Visually Induced Motion Sickness by Questionnaire

“…Such a finding is reminiscent of what has been found in large surveys of the general population and patients experiencing vestibular disorders which produce vertigo (Golding and Patel, 2017). To explain this, it has been proposed that there is an underlying set of risk factors which distribute with increasing strength throughout the general population up into what is then termed the 'clinical population' for vestibular related disorders such as Visual Vertigo (Peverall and Golding, 2017) and Persistent Perceptual Postural Dizziness (PPPD) (Bronstein et al, 2020;Powell et al, 2020).…”

“…Additionally, certain groups of patients with vestibular pathology and vertigo can be especially sensitive to any type of motion. For instance, patients with Meniere's disease or with vestibular migraine are especially susceptible to motion sickness (Bronstein et al, 2020). Migraineurs (nonvestibular migraine) report greater susceptibility to motion sickness provoked by real physical motion and provoked by visual stimuli (Golding and Patel, 2017).…”

Sensitized rotatory motion perception and increased susceptibility to motion sickness in vestibular migraine: A cross‐sectional study

“…Moreover, the patients were treated with this medication to reduce vertigo and dizziness symptoms, which might have suppressed the observed findings of vestibular cortex overexcitability in these patients. Autonomic changes including in skin resistance and heart rate are known to be associated with motion sickness [43]. We have to acknowledge that information regarding the autonomic system, potentially mediated by the vestibulosympathetic reflex, was not systematically evaluated.…”

Virtual Reality Sickness: A Review of Causes and Measurements

“…Also, participants of Draper's experiment were allowed to move their bodies; on the other hand, other studies constrained the movement of participants. (Bronstein et al, 2020).…”