A new study combining brainwave monitoring and machine learning has found that certain types of music can dramatically reduce motion sickness symptoms – by more than half in some cases – offering fresh hope for more pleasant travel experiences.
Researchers from Southwest University in China enlisted 30 volunteers prone to moderate motion sickness to experience a simulated driving task while wearing electroencephalogram (EEG) caps to track brain activity. They monitored different parts of the cortex, paying special attention to the occipital lobe, which handles visual input and often plays a key role in motion sickness.
The researchers were interested in four music types classed as joyful, soft, stirring (passionate) and sad. The participants were divided into six groups of five – four exposed to music, one serving as a "natural recovery" control and another whose simulators were stopped when they started to report that they might feel slightly carsick. This latter cohort served as a point of difference for the brain activity data, allowing researchers to compare the change in waves when motion sickness took hold in the other five groups.
"Previous studies have shown that music can alleviate negative emotions such as tension, but its effect on motion sickness remains unclear, and the differences in the alleviation effect of different types of music on motion sickness need to be quantitatively evaluated," said the researchers.
The participants sat still in the simulator for a few minutes to capture baseline EEG signals, then performed a driving task and reported their level of carsickness. Once completed, the four music groups were played one style of song each for 60 seconds, and then asked to report how sick they felt. The team then analyzed the EEG signals, looking at how the signals changed over different frequencies, and these were processed through machine-learning models, which could detect when a participant was becoming motion sick in real time with a high degree of accuracy.
What they found was that brain activity in the occipital lobe changed when carsickness developed, with less complex waves in this region when participants began feeling moderately ill. Then, the better they said they felt as they recovered, the more active their signals became. And this recovery differed among the groups.
Soft and joyful music produced the greatest reduction in sickness, averaging 56.7% and 57.3% relief, respectively. Passionate (stirring) music offered moderate relief (48.3%), while sad music performed worse than no audio at all, reducing symptoms by only 40% – this was lower than the control group at 43.3%.
“Motion sickness significantly impairs the travel experience for many individuals, and existing pharmacological interventions often carry side-effects such as drowsiness,” explained corresponding author Qizong Yue of Southwest University, China. “Music represents a non-invasive, low-cost, and personalized intervention strategy.”
The researchers hypothesized that soft music has a relaxing effect, relieving the tension that makes carsickness worse, and joyful music might serve as distraction, activating the brain's reward systems. Meanwhile, sad music could do the opposite, amplifying negative emotions and increasing discomfort.
A 2022 brainwave study demonstrated that motion sickness is associated with stronger alpha and theta rhythms in the parietal and occipital regions, reflecting sensory conflict and overstimulation. Essentially, soft and joyful music may reduce this effect by easing emotional tension, redirecting attention and calming physiological responses triggered by motion sickness.
It's worth noting that this was a small study, the music categories were broad, and more research is needed to untangle these possible links. Nonetheless, these findings point to a promising, non-pharmacological way to combat motion sickness. Carefully selected music – particularly genres that elevate mood or have a calming effect – could become a simple way to relieve unpleasant symptoms.
“Based on our conclusions, individuals experiencing motion sickness symptoms during travel can listen to cheerful or gentle music to achieve relief,” said Yue. “The primary theoretical frameworks for motion sickness genesis apply broadly to sickness induced by various vehicles. Therefore, the findings of this study likely extend to motion sickness experienced during air or sea travel.”
The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
Source: Frontiers
