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Taking a long road trip is one of the joys of modern life. There’s something special about cruising through a scenic route, whether you’re going solo or with a friend. The open road, good company, and a great playlist can create unforgettable moments.
For people who suffer from motion sickness, however, any sort of drive can be difficult. Luckily, research recently published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience shows that recovering from motion sickness may not be as hard as one might think — all you need is the right music. Yes, as it turns out, listening to specific types of songs could help alleviate the symptoms of motion sickness.
Induced Motion Sickness
According to Frontiers, in order to figure out whether music helped with the symptoms of motion sickness, the researchers first had to figure out how to induce car sickness in the study participants. In order to do so, they had 40 participants screen routes for the most likely to induce car sickness on a driving simulator. Then, they recruited 30 participants who had reported susceptibility to becoming car sick.
All of these participants were then fitted with EEG caps so that the researchers could try to identify quantifiable indicators of carsickness in the brain. Then, they were split into six groups. Four of the groups received different types of musical intervention, one was played no music at all, and the last whose simulators stopped when they reported carsickness.
What the researchers found was that happy music was the most effective in alleviating the symptoms of car sickness, while soft music was the second best. Passionate music helped alleviate symptoms to a lesser degree, and sad music was less effective than no music at all.
The Transformative Power of Music
According to Science Alert, this study works in concert with other earlier studies that point to the transformative power of music. It can even help with visually induced cybersickness. In the case of the study above, the authors hypothesize that it is the emotional resonance of the music that made the participants feel better, or worse, as in the case of sad music.
Though the results of the study are positive, there is still more work to be done, Frontiers notes. For one, the study used quite a small sample size. In addition, the use of music also needs to be tested in real-world conditions, and not just via a driving simulator.
Still, the research is significant for understanding both more about motion sickness and about the ways in which music affects human beings on a physical level. So the next time you find yourself becoming car sick, just turn on some joyful music, and enjoy the ride.
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