Potential non-pharmacological countermeasures for motion sickness

Abstract

Motion sickness can occur in any motion environment to which a person is not adapted, varying from cars, boats, and planes to fun rides and virtual reality. With symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, headache, lethargy, dizziness, and loss of concentration it causes discomfort for passengers but also a decrease in task performance for crew. Although several pharmacological countermeasures exist, these invariably have side-effects which may also affect someone’s performance. The objective of this theoretical study was to identify alternative, non-pharmacological methods against motion sickness, and to provide recommendations for possible explorative experiments in follow-up work. The emphasis was on non-invasive, behavioral and cognitive methods. The work consisted of a review of literature on non-pharmacological countermeasures, as well as a workshop with experts from various behavioral sciences. An important outcome of the study is to provide recommendations for explorative experiments in follow-up work to increase our understanding of physiological, psychological, and behavioral factors affecting motion sickness