Relations Between Motion Sickness Susceptibility, the Spiral After‐effect and Loudness Estimation

Abstract

This paper reports two experiments designed to elucidate those sensory characteristics which influence motion sickness susceptibility. In the first, a positive and significant correlation was obtained between the score derived from a biographical motion sickness questionnaire (MSQ) and the rate at which spiral after‐effect persistence increased as a logarithmic function of the induction period (SAE slope score). A positive but insignificant relation was also found between the MSQ score and the slope of the sensation cupulogram. The second experiment revealed a significant concordance between the MSQ score, the SAE slope score and the slope of the psychophysical function describing individual loudness estimates of a 1000 c/s tone. The notion of ‘receptivity’ was advanced to account for these findings.

A Possible Basis for Individual Differences in Magnitude‐estimation Behaviour

“…He interprets these and related findings in terms of a 'receptivity' factor that, like Petrie's augmenterreducer hypothesis or the Pavlovian 'strength of the nervous system' concept, refers to the way in which an individual's central nervous system, as a whole, codes stimulus intensity. A similar explanation was offered by Sales & Throop (1972) to explain an observed correlation of 0.36 (P < 0.05) between the slopes of individual loudness estimation functions and scores on Petrie's version of the KAE test.…”

Motion sickness: more than nausea and vomiting

“…Attempts to understand why there are such huge variations in sensitivity to motion stimulation and in decay rates have focused on factors such as estimates of sound loudness and the decay rates of the visual spiral aftereffect (Reason 1968) and asymmetries in ocular counter-rolling (Diamond and Markham 1991). Enhanced perception of sound loudness and persistence of visual spiral aftereffects were thought to reflect heightened sensitivity and persistence to sensory stimulation that might correlate with increased sensitivity to vestibular stimulation and hence susceptibility to motion sickness.…”

Motion sickness susceptibility associated with visually induced postural instability and cardiac autonomic responses in healthy subjects

“…The first section was devoted to the subject's experiences of MS before the age of 12 years and the second was concerned with MS since the age of 12 years. The MS susceptibility score (MSSS) was obtained by summing the separate scores from the two sections of the questionnaire [9]. This questionnaire was developed from existing scales for assessing MS and ranged from 0 to 72.…”