A Review of Motion Sickness with Special Reference to Simulator Sickness

The incidence of simulator sickness is increasing. As many incidents have been reported since 1980 as in all of time before then, and there are implications for training and safety. The present paper reviews: the signs and symptoms, stimuli and response characteristics, anatomical structures, and susceptibility factors. The prevalent theories of the genesis of this malady are put forth and an integrating theory is propose which suggests that simulator sickness is a form of motion sickness and may be best understood as a special case of sensory rearrangement. Other works in this series (1) descrive the scope of the problem, (2) report the incidence in over 4500 exposures, and (3) list more than 2000 relavant references. The theory which is offered suggest that motion sickness is a result of decorrelation between and within sensory input channels of information. This correlation theory which is offered suggests that motion sickness is a result of decorrelation between and within sensory input channels of information. This correlation theory is in general agreement with the perceptual conflict or cue mismatch theories, and implies that the central nervous system (CNS) perceives decorrelated stimulations as toxic events. This CNS interpretation of toxicity causes the constellation of symptoms associated with motion sickness to be released. Originator supplied keywords include: Motion sickness; Simulator sickness; Perceptual rearrangement; Simulation; Sensory conflict; Visual vestibular interactions.