The next time you find yourself in a car, driving along a winding road, why not turn on an uplifting tune? It might help you recover from motion sickness.
A team of researchers led by neuroscientist Yilun Li at China's Henan Institute of Science and Technology has found music may be a surprisingly effective intervention for reducing nausea and dizziness induced by travel. Depending on the song.
In experiments, 30 participants were subject to a driving simulator, in which they were made to feel carsick while wearing an electroencephalograph (EEG) cap. This allowed researchers to 'read' the brain activity of volunteers in real time, as it transitioned from a stable state to a state of motion sickness, and gradually back again.
Participants were divided into six groups. Four groups listened to a minute of music after the nauseating drive; one listened to no music after the drive, spending 1 minute meditating instead; and one ended the drive right before participants were expected to feel nauseated.
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The researchers found that joyful music alleviated symptoms of carsickness by 14 percent compared to the group that meditated.
Soft music was the next best genre. It alleviated symptoms by 13.4 percent compared to controls.
Interestingly, one type of music reduced nausea at a rate worse than simply waiting for the feelings of carsickness to pass. Sad music seemed to make recovery harder.
It's difficult to say how significant these changes are, as the current experiments were based on a small sample size with limited statistical power.
That said, the results align with other studies that have found music can be transformative – changing the way we feel, for better or worse.
Previous studies have also shown that a favorite tune can reduce symptoms of visually induced motion sickness or 'cybersickness' from virtual reality devices. It might even help with hangovers.
But while some research suggests that sad music can improve mood and make us feel good, it's possible that in some scenarios, it can have the opposite effect.
EEG data from the current trial suggests that motion sickness has a negative correlation with brain activity in the occipital region, which helps process visual information.
The more sick a participant said they felt, the less complex the activity in this part of the brain. The better they recovered, meanwhile, the more varied activity the EEG caps recorded.
"Sad music may exacerbate discomfort through emotional resonance," the authors hypothesize.
Whereas cheerful or relaxing music may help participants maintain a good physical state, "thus enhancing the comfort of the occupants."
It's worth a try.
The study was published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.