Intensity of motion sickness symptoms as a function of apparent autonomic balance.

Twenty volunteer male college students were exposed to motion picture films which reliably elicit symptoms of motion sickness. Those Ss with relatively higher apparent sympathetic nervous system dominance showed significantly smaller autonomic reactions to the film. It was concluded that increased sympathetic tone tended to the film. It was concluded that increased sympathetic tone tended to reduce autonomic reactions to motion sickness stimuli. It was suggested that the sympathetic nervous system symptoms that usually occur in motion sickness are actually defensive reactions rather than symptoms of nausea.