Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 50, Issue 3 469-477, Copyright © 1981 by American Physiological Society
Motion sickness caused by rotations about Earth-horizontal and Earth-vertical axes
A. Leger, K. E. Money, J. P. Landolt, B. S. Cheung and B. E. Rodden
Rotation at constant angular velocity about the head's Z-axis, with the
rotational axis horizontal (barbecue-spit rotation), causes motion sickness
and illusory perceptions of bodily movement. To determine whether such
rotations about the head's X- and Y-axes cause similar effects, and to test
the validity of the mismatch theory of motion sickness, more than 200 tests
(using vertical axes as well as horizontal axes) were administered to 14
subjects. Three different visual conditions were also investigated: normal
external vision, vision of only the inside walls of the rotating capsule,
and eyes closed in the dark. In Earth-horizontal rotation, the X- and
Y-axis stimuli were found to be equally as effective in provoking sickness
as was the original Z-axis stimulus, and a comparable loss of perception of
gravity occurred for all three stimuli. The horizontal axis stimuli were
found to be very effective in producing sickness in all the three visual
conditions, but the external vision condition was significantly less
effective than the other two conditions. The findings were generally
inconsistent with the mismatch theory.
