Analysis of Motion Sickness Associated Brain Activity Using fNIRS: A Driving Simulator Study
DOI: 10.1109/access.2020.3038039
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
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Summary
This study investigates the neural mechanisms underlying motion sickness in driving scenarios, a critical issue for the acceptance of autonomous vehicles where passengers may engage in non-driving tasks that exacerbate symptoms. Motivated by the need to understand the pathogenesis of motion sickness to develop effective prevention strategies, the researchers focused on changes in cerebral cortex activity before and after the onset of symptoms. The study utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to monitor brain activity, chosen for its high spatial resolution and flexibility compared to EEG or fMRI, allowing participants to maintain a natural driving posture. The experimental design involved 52 healthy volunteers with valid driving licenses participating in a six-degree-of-freedom driving simulator study. Participants drove a simulated hexagonal circular road consisting of alternating straight and curved sections at controlled speeds (approximately 50 km/h). Brain activity, specifically changes in oxyhemoglobin concentration ($\Delta$OxyHb) and deoxyhemoglobin concentration ($\Delta$DeoxyHb), was recorded using a 41-channel fNIRS system covering perception, judgment, and operation areas of the cerebral cortex. Motion sickness severity was assessed using a custom 10-item Motion Sickness Questionnaire (MSQ) administered at the end of the first lap and upon task termination. Data were segmented into straight and curved driving conditions, comparing brain activity metrics from the first section (pre-symptom) against the last section (post-symptom onset). Statistical analysis employed Jarque-Bera tests for normality, followed by t-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests to identify significant differences in cerebral oxygen exchange ($\Delta$COE). The results indicated that 47 of the 52 participants developed motion sickness symptoms severe enough to terminate the experiment or complete the task with high MSQ scores. Analysis revealed that brain activity associated with motion sickness differs between straight and curved driving conditions. However, a consistent finding across both conditions was the significant involvement of the occipital lobe in the emergence of motion sickness responses. The study corroborated existing neuroscience theories regarding sensory conflict and visual processing in motion sickness. By identifying specific cortical regions, particularly the occipital lobe, that exhibit distinct activity changes correlated with symptom onset, the research provides physiological reference values for understanding the condition. The significance of this work lies in its contribution to the development of driving assistance systems for autonomous vehicles. By establishing a clear link between motion sickness and specific brain activity patterns via noninvasive fNIRS, the study offers a new approach for monitoring passenger states in real-time. This understanding can inform the design of vehicle control algorithms and cabin environments that minimize sensory conflict, thereby alleviating motion sickness and enhancing user comfort and acceptance of autonomous driving technology.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| archive | success | unpaywall | — | — | 2 | 2026-08-09 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 3 | 2026-08-10 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| enrich | success | semantic_scholar | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-nvidia | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-08-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 10 | 2026-08-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-08-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-nvidia on 2026-08-10; verification: verified.
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Information type
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- Empirical Findings: physiological data
- Methodological Resource: tool software, validation psychometrics