Nagoya University researchers find sound may reduce motion sickness

Researchers at Nagoya University have discovered that specific sound frequencies may help mitigate motion sickness. The study suggests that auditory stimulation can assist the vestibular system in maintaining balance.

Motion sickness is caused by a sensory mismatch between visual information and the vestibular organs in the inner ear, specifically the otolith organs. By stimulating the utricle with sound, researchers found they could potentially stabilize balance.

In experiments using mice, exposure to a pure tone of 100Hz at a volume of 65.9dBa—a stimulus the team named ‘sound spice’—significantly enhanced vestibular function. Mice exposed to this sound for five minutes demonstrated a reduction in motion sickness symptoms for over two hours when subjected to movement tests compared to a control group.