Motion Sickness: Its Pathophysiology and Treatment

The pathogenesis of motion sickness includes both inner-ear stimulation by body movement, especially a Coriolis-type stimulus, and optokinetic stimulation due to the shift of the surrounding visual fields. According to Kornhuber, Sakata and others, the vestibular cer­ ebellum also participates in an important way. We conducted this study to elucidate the influ­ ence of the vestibular cerebellum on the development of motion sickness. We initially focused attention on the visual suppression test of Takemori et al. as a test for vestibular cerebellar function. We reported a modification of this test, described as postrotatoric nystagmus. We employed this test as a rotatoric visual suppression test using milder stimulus for patients complaining of motion sickness. The pathogenesis and treatment of motion sickness are also discussed.