Training of spatial cognitive abilities reduces symptoms of visually induced motion sickness

Fan Wang; Shuai Pan; Xiao-Wen Li; Jia-Mei Lu; Chuan-Jing Qiu; Meng-Hang Jiang; Zhan-Guo Jin; Sheng-Guang Yan

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1415552

Training of spatial cognitive abilities reduces symptoms of visually induced motion sickness

Front Psychol. 2024 Sep 2:15:1415552. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1415552. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Fan Wang^#¹, Shuai Pan^#², Xiao-Wen Li², Jia-Mei Lu², Chuan-Jing Qiu³, Meng-Hang Jiang⁴, Zhan-Guo Jin⁵, Sheng-Guang Yan^{2

6}

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China.
² School of Public Health, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China.
³ Xinghua City People's Hospital, Taizhou, China.
⁴ College of Science, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China.
⁵ Air Force Medical Center, PLA, Beijing, China.
⁶ Hebei Key Laboratory of Occupational Health and Safety for Coal Industry, Tangshan, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to explore the effectiveness of enhancing individual spatial cognitive abilities in alleviating the negative symptoms of visually induced motion sickness (VIMS). Additionally, it seeks to develop innovative intervention methods to improve spatial cognition and identify new treatment approaches for VIMS.

Methods: The study investigated the impact of innovative interventions on spatial cognitive abilities and their modulation of VIMS susceptibility. A total of 43 participants were recruited (23 in the experimental group and 20 in the control group). The experimental group underwent six sessions of spatial cognitive ability training, while the control group engaged in activities unrelated to spatial cognition.

Results: The analysis revealed that the spatial cognitive ability scores of the experimental group significantly improved after the intervention. Furthermore, the experimental group exhibited significant differences in nausea, oculomotor, disorientation, and total SSQ scores before and after the intervention, indicating that the intervention effectively mitigated VIMS symptoms.

Conclusion: This study developed a virtual reality training method that effectively enhances individual spatial cognitive abilities and significantly alleviates VIMS symptoms, providing a novel and effective approach for VIMS intervention and treatment.

Keywords: intervention; mental rotation test; spatial cognition ability; virtual reality; visually induced motion sickness.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Air Force General Hospital PLA Project (no. 2019ZTC02), Hebei Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security’s sponsorship project for introducing overseas students (C20200356), Hebei Province Social Science Fund Project (HB0SH020).