When feeling motion but not seeing it (for example, in the cabin of a ship with no portholes), the inner ear transmits to the brain that it senses motion, but the eyes tell the brain that everything is still. As a result of the incongruity, the brain concludes that the individual is hallucinating and further concludes that the hallucination is due to poison ingestion. The brain responds by inducing vomiting, to clear the supposed toxin. Treismans indirect argument has recently been questioned via an alternative direct evolutionary hypothesis, as well as modified and extended via a direct poison hypothesis. The direct evolutionary hypothesis essentially argues that there are plausible means by which ancient real or apparent motion could have contributed directly to the evolution of aversive reactions, without the need for the co-opting of a poison response as posited by Treisman. Nevertheless, the direct poison hypothesis argues that there still are plausible ways in which the bodys poison response system may have played a role in shaping the evolution of some of the signature symptoms that characterize motion sickness. Nystagmus hypothesis
Yet another theory, known as the nystagmus hypothesis, has been proposed based on stimulation of the vagus nerve resulting from the stretching or traction of extra-ocular muscles co-occurring with eye movements caused by vestibular stimulation. There are three critical aspects to the theory: first is the close linkage between activity in the vestibular system, i.e., semicircular canals and otolith organs, and a change in tonus among various of each eyes six extra-ocular muscles.
Other conditions that may present similarly include vestibular disorders such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and vestibular migraine and stroke. Treatment
Treatment may include behavioral measures or medications. Behavioral measures
Behavioral measures to decrease motion sickness include holding the head still and lying on the back. Focusing on the horizon may also be useful. Listening to music, mindful breathing, being the driver, and not reading while moving are other techniques.Habituation is the most effective technique but requires significant time. It is often used by the military for pilots. These techniques must be carried out at least every week to retain effectiveness.A head-worn, computer device with a transparent display can be used to mitigate the effects of motion sickness (and spatial disorientation) if visual indicators of the wearers head position are shown. Such a device functions by providing the wearer with digital reference lines in their field of vision that indicate the horizons position relative to the users head. This is accomplished by combining readings from accelerometers and gyroscopes mounted in the device. This technology has been implemented in both standalone devices and Google Glass. One promising looking treatment is to wear LCD shutter glasses that create a stroboscopic vision of 4 Hz with a dwell of 10 milliseconds. Medication
Three types of medications are useful: antimuscarinics such as scopolamine, H1 antihistamines such as dimenhydrinate, and amphetamines such as dexamphetamine. Benefits are greater if used before the onset of symptoms or shortly after symptoms begin. Side effects, however, may limit the use of medications.