A Wearable Brain–Computer Interface for Mitigating Car Sickness via Attention Shifting

Motion sickness commonly occurs after exposure to actual motion, such as car or amusement park rides, or virtual motion, such as panoramic movies. Motion sickness symptoms may be disabling, significantly limiting business, travel and leisure activities. Motion sickness occurs in ~ 50% of migraine sufferers. Understanding motion sickness in migraine patients may improve understanding of the physiology of both conditions. Recent literature suggests important relationships between the trigeminal system and vestibular nuclei that may have implications for both motion sickness and migraine. Studies demonstrating an important relationship between serotonin receptors and motion sickness susceptibility in both rodents and humans suggest possible new motion sickness prevention therapies.

Objective To investigate the relationships between mindfulness, anxiety and depression in surface warship soldiers and the mediating role of attentional control. Methods Chinese versions of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Attentional Control Scale (ACS) and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) were used to survey 475 surface warship soldiers. Single factor analysis of variance, correlation analysis and path analysis were conducted by SPSS 20.0 and Amos18.0. Results ① The scores of the state anxiety, trait anxiety and depression in the soldiers and noncommissioned officers were significantly higher than that of commissioned officers (P<0.05). As for the state anxiety, trait anxiety, depression and attentional focusing, there were statistically significant differences among different educational levels (P<0.05). Specifically, the lower educational level, the higher anxiety and depression, the lower control focusing. ② There were significant positive correlations among attentional focusing (27.12±4.43), attentional shifting (29.43±3.78) and mindfulness (120.27±11.16, r=0.49-0.51, P<0.01). State anxiety (38.65±10.07) was negatively correlated with attentional focusing, attentional shifting and mindfulness (r=-0.32--0.54, P<0.01). Similar results were observed for trait anxiety (41.28±8.79) and depression (9.97±10.13). ③Attentional focusing partially mediated the relationships between state anxiety, trait anxiety, depression and mindfulness. Conclusion Anxiety and depression of soldiers have obvious relationships with kinds of soldiers’ rank and education level. Mindfulness and attentional control are vital protective factors for marine army’s mental health. This study indicates that mindfulness may improve individuals’ attentional focusing and attentional shifting, and ameliorate negative moods such as anxiety and depression. Key words: Mindfulness; State anxiety; Trait anxiety; Depression; Attentional control

With the advancement of autonomous driving technologies, passengers increasingly engage in non-driving activities. However, these activities are often limited by motion sickness (MS), which worsens with vehicle vibration characterized by longer exposure duration and greater magnitude. Although recent studies have detected MS using EEG-based artificial intelligence models, they have often overlooked the characteristics of MS in vehicles. In this study, we propose a method to enhance the performance of EEG-based convolutional neural network (CNN) models by incorporating the motion sickness dose value (MSDV) defined in ISO 2631-1, which considers both exposure duration and vibration magnitude. For the CNN models, we selected ShallowConvNet, EEGNet, TSception, and EEG-Conformer, which are widely used in brain-computer interface and emotion recognition. The proposed method assigns MSDV-based weighting factors to EEG segments, with MSDV computed from triaxial head acceleration. To validate the effectiveness of the approach, EEG signals were recorded from 42 participants who were exposed to various simulated road conditions with a motion simulator. Results demonstrated that the MSDV weighted models exhibited statistically significant improvements in classification performance compared to the models without MSDV. Furthermore, classification accuracy was enhanced by applying a cascade adaptive filter to eliminate movement artifacts induced by whole-body vibration. The proposed method achieved within-subject classification accuracies of 94.55–95.54% and cross-subject accuracies of 67.92–74.77%, outperforming existing MS detection models. These findings suggest that integrating EEG signals with MSDV weighting provides a promising pathway for accurate real-world motion sickness detection.

Many claims have been made regarding the application of mindfulness meditation to the improvement of critical thinking skills, with some suggesting improved executive function as a mechanism. This study tests theoretical assumptions related to these claims. Sixty-five Irish university students took part in an active-controlled mixed factorial experiment designed to investigate the effects of a guided mindfulness meditation on the primary measures of executive function and critical thinking. The secondary measures assessed key thinking dispositions, including the need for cognition and actively open-minded thinking, state mindfulness and dispositional mindfulness. The 2 × 2 mixed analyses of variance showed no evidence of an effect of the interaction between time (pre vs. post) and group (mindfulness vs. sham meditation) on executive function indices (p < 0.39) or critical thinking performance (p = 0.11). No evidence was found for indirect effects of group allocation on critical thinking through either state mindfulness or executive function. Moderation models demonstrated evidence that the effects of the mindfulness meditation on critical thinking were conditional on need for cognition (b = −0.24 [−0.40, −0.08]) and actively open-minded thinking (b = −0.14 [−0.25, −0.04]) dispositions. In addition, participants who reported low levels of non-reactivity demonstrated decreased critical thinking performance following the mindfulness meditation, which was mediated by slower reaction times on the executive functioning task (b = −53.37 [−92.65, −14.08]). In summary, a brief guided mindfulness meditation appears to facilitate critical thinking for those low in need for cognition and actively open-minded thinking. However, it is unclear whether executive function is a mechanism underlying this relationship.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are well-known instances of how technology can convert a user's brain activity taken from non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) into computer commands for the purpose of computer-assisted communication and interaction. However, not all users are attaining the accuracy required to use a BCI consistently, despite advancements in technology. Accordingly, previous research suggests that human factors could be responsible for the variance in BCI performance among users. Therefore, the user's internal mental states and traits including motivation, affect or cognition, personality traits, or the user's satisfaction, beliefs or trust in the technology have been investigated. Going a step further, this manuscript aims to discuss which human factors could be potential superordinate factors that influence BCI performance, implicitly, explicitly as well as inter- and intraindividually. Based on the results of previous studies that used comparable protocols to examine the motivational, affective, cognitive state or personality traits of healthy and vulnerable EEG-BCI users within and across well-investigated BCIs (P300-BCIs or SMR-BCIs, respectively), it is proposed that the self-relevance of tasks and stimuli and the user's self-concept provide a huge potential for BCI applications. As potential key human factors self-relevance and the user's self-concept (self-referential knowledge and beliefs about one's self) guide information processing and modulate the user's motivation, attention, or feelings of ownership, agency, and autonomy. Changes in the self-relevance of tasks and stimuli as well as self-referential processing related to one's self (self-concept) trigger changes in neurophysiological activity in specific brain networks relevant to BCI. Accordingly, concrete examples will be provided to discuss how past and future research could incorporate self-relevance and the user's self-concept in the BCI setting - including paradigms, user instructions, and training sessions.

Background Motion sickness (MS) is a physiological condition caused by mismatched sensory input, particularly among the vestibular, visual, and somatosensory systems. While the visual system has traditionally been considered the primary contributor to MS, recent studies suggest that auditory input may also influence symptom onset and severity. However, there is limited research examining how different types of sound affect individuals with MS. Methods This study was conducted with 15 individuals diagnosed with motion sickness (12 female, 3 male) at Istanbul Medipol University Audiology Laboratory. Participants completed the Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire (MSSQ) prior to inclusion. Over four sessions, participants engaged in a motion-based game under four randomized auditory conditions: silence, game’s original sound, white noise (WN), and theta binaural beats (TBB). In each session, heart rate and optokinetic test data were collected before and after gameplay. Post-session, participants also completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Each session featured a different auditory condition. Results Exposure to TBB resulted in significantly lower anxiety scores compared to other sound conditions (p ≤ 0.012). Heart rate increase was also less pronounced, and participants completed the task in a shorter duration (p ≤ 0.012). Optokinetic gain values showed a statistically significant increase after task completion (p &lt; 0.05). Conclusion The findings indicate that theta binaural beats can effectively reduce anxiety and help regulate physiological responses in individuals experiencing motion sickness. These results suggest that specific auditory stimulation may be beneficial in managing motion-related discomfort.

Enhancing the Social Impact of Contemporary Music with Neurotechnology

Sea sickness may greatly impact the readiness of Service personnel deployed aboard naval vessels. Medications used in the treatment of sea sickness may have adverse effects, limiting their use as flight crew. Although the prevalence of sea sickness in flight crews remains unclear, individual susceptibility and high sea states are established risk factors. Literature review can guide optimized management strategies for this population. The first author conducted a PubMed search using the terms "sea sickness" "flight crew" "scopolamine," "hyoscine," and "cinnarizine," identifying 15 articles of 350 matches, which addressed potential impact to flight performance. Analysis also included two historic reports about motion sickness maintained within the U.K. Army Aviation Centre's aeromedical archives in Middle Wallop, Hampshire. Both authors reviewed aeromedical policy for the International Civil Aviation Organization, U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, U.S. Federal Aviation Authority, the National Aeronautics Space Administration, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force. Scopolamine, also known as hyoscine, has fewer operationally relevant side effects than cinnarizine or first-generation antihistamines. Although no aeromedical authorities endorse the unsupervised use of scopolamine, many will consider authorizing its temporary use following an initial assessment on the ground. Evidence supports the concomitant use of stimulant medication for augmenting antinausea effects and countering the potential sedative effects of scopolamine. Scopolamine should be considered as a first-line medication for flight crews at risk of sea sickness but such use must be guided by the appropriate aeromedical authority, ideally in conjunction with a ground trial to evaluate individual response. The limited evidence to support concurrent use of stimulants must be weighed against the challenges of maintaining accountability of controlled substances in the operational environment.

Meditation is a profound inward attention as practiced in many traditions. Meditation techniques such as mindfulness meditation or transcendental meditation include specific postures, focused attention, or an open attitude toward distractions defined by National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), USA. Regular practice enhances calmness and relaxation, improve psychological balance, cope with illness, or enhance overall health and well-being (NCCAM, 2010).Mindfulness meditation involves paying heightened awareness to the present-moment and non-judgmentally focusing on all that we possess to a greater or lesser extent. It is an intrinsic state that all humans can cultivate through a long-term practice of meditation, which enhances mindfulness skills and in turn these skills promote psychological well-being (Soler et al., 2014). There are twocomponent models of mindfulness, i.e., sustained attention in the present moment and the open, curious, and accepting attitude (Lutz, Slagter, Dunne, & Davidson, 2008). Recently, mindfulness has been proposed to remediate a range of clinical problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress) and to impact core aspects of social cognition (e.g., meta-cognition, self-referential thought, cognitive behavior, rather than physiological, paradigm for meditation. Following the guided meditation like focusing on sensation in the body, sound, thoughts and emotions (longer formal practices) or shorter formal practices (MBCT, Vipassana) and informal meditation practices (Cyclic Meditation, Transcendental Meditation or mindfulness in daily life activities), or both, there are definitive changes in higher mental functions of such practitioners (Crane et al., 2014). These practices certainly effect the mindfulness of individuals whether practiced long term or even a single session (Vinchurkar, Singh, & Vis wes waraiah, 2 014).One of the various forms of mindfulness is the practice of a unique technique called Cyclic Mediation (CM). CM is a moving meditation practice derived from an ancient Indian text, Mandukya Upanishad (Nagendra & Nagrathana, 1997). It was fundamentally designed for novice practitioners and combines the practice of yoga postures with guided meditation. CM is known to induce a quiet state of mind, which is compatible with the description of meditation (dhyana or effortless expansion), according to Sage Patanjali (Subramanya & Telles, 2009a). Although this moving meditation differs from the classic description of meditation, in which the practitioners remain seated, keeping as still as possible, the mental state in both practices (moving meditation and seated practices) is supposed to be comparable (Subramanya & Telles, 2009b). An essential part of the practice of CM is being aware of sensations arising in the body (Nagendra & Nagrathana, 1997) which emphasize the mindful component.Several studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of Cyclic Meditation on behavioral and cognitive domains. In a previous study conducted on middle managers, CM program decreased occupational stress levels and baseline autonomic arousal in 26 asymptomatic, male, middle managers (Vempati & Telles, 2000). Studies conducted to determine the effects of CM practice reported a decreased oxygen consumption indicating physiological relaxation as in mindfulness (Sarang & Telles, 2006). Few other studies on immediate effects of CM concluded that it improves attention, cognition, enhances slow wave sleep and reduces anxiety (Patra & Telles, 2009; Sarang & Telles, 2006, 2007; Subramanya & Telles, 2009b). Mindful yoga practices (like CM) may generate the state of mindfulness, which, when evoked recurrently through repeated practice, may accrue into trait or dispositional mindfulness (Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009; Garland et al., 2010). A recent study on the effective practice of mindfulness to explore the relationship of meditation on mindfulness skills and psychological health demonstrated a significant improvement in both the variables (Deepeshwar, Suhas, Naveen, & Nagendra, 2014). …

Student pilots sometimes experience motion sickness early in their flight training and drug remedies may be prescribed for dual flights. Moreover, prescriptions are not required for some motion sickness preventives. In addition, business associates or spouses often accompany private pilots on flying trips; some of these passengers, who may be required to pilot the aircraft in an emergency, use antimotion sickness drugs. While the basic efficacy of such drugs is rooted in the reduction of motion sickness symptoms, adverse side effects are important practical considerations of their usage in aviation. The two studies reported here examined the influence of three antimotion sickness drugs on tracking performance in static (stationary) and dynamic (angular acceleration) conditions and on visual fixation ability during motion. In the first study, 40 young men were randomly assigned in equal numbers to a control (lactose placebo), dimenhydrinate (50 mg), promethazine hydrochloride (25 mg), or mixture (25 mg promethazine plus 10 mg d-amphetamine) group. The second study used 30 new subjects equally divided into control, dimenhydrinate (100 mg) and promethazine (50 mg) groups. Following practice, tests were conducted prior to 1, 2, and 4 hours after drug ingestion. The depressant drugs had little effect on static tracking, but impaired dynamic tracking performance and reduced ability to maintain visual fixation on a localizer/glide slope instrument due to increase ocular nystagmus. The mixture of promethazine and d-amphetamine produced none of these deleterious effects.

During recent years there has been a growing interest in Brain Computer Interface (BCI) systems as an alternative means of interaction with the external world for people with severe motor disabilities. The use of the P300 event-related potentials as control feature allows users to choose between various options (letters or icons) requiring a very short calibration phase. The aim of this work is to improve performances and flexibility of P300 based BCIs. An efficient BCI system should be able to understand user's intentions from the ongoing EEG, abstaining from doing a selection when the user is engaged in a different activity, and changing its speed of selection depending on current user's attention level. Our self-paced system addresses all these issues representing an important step beyond the classical synchronous P300 BCI that forces the user in a continuous control task. Experimentation has been performed on 10 healthy volunteers acting on a BCI-controlled domestic environment in order to demonstrate the potential usability of BCI systems in everyday life. Results show that the self-paced BCI increases information transfer rate with respect to the synchronous one, being very robust, at the same time, in avoiding false negatives when the user is not engaged in a control task.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between seasickness induced by ship motion and the angle of seat backrest, aiming to guide the redesign of ship seats to enhance passengers' comfort during voyages. With a focus on sitting posture, participants rated the severity of motion sickness symptoms under different seat backrest angles on a six-degree-of-freedom platform simulating ship motion. The relationship between seat backrest angle and motion sickness response was explored. The experimental results indicate that variations in seat backrest angle under ship motion conditions have a certain impact on participants' motion sickness response. The symptoms of motion sickness in participants are mildest when the seat backrest is tilted back approximately 22.5°, while they become significantly exacerbated when the tilt angle exceeds 45°. Additionally, there is no significant difference between males and females. This study proposes an effective measure to alleviate seasickness that is free of side effects, low-cost, and easy to implement, which could help alleviate the suffering caused by seasickness and hold significant implications for the redesign of ship seats. Moreover, it expands the possibilities for the application of industrial design in the field of ship and ocean engineering.

Psychophysiological assessment and correction of spatial disorientation during simulated Orion spacecraft re-entry

Motion sickness remains a significant and unpredictable problem during spaceflight. One of the major difficulties in understanding the etiology of space motion sickness has been a lack of data at the time the symptoms occur, i.e., immediately after entry into space and during return to Earth; in these phases of the mission is when critical operational tasks are performed. We report here the case of a crewmember who experienced severe motion sickness symptoms immediately after launching into space and for several days into the mission. Verbal reports recorded during and immediately after the flight describe in detail the symptoms and their underlying causes. The prominent cause was oscillopsia that was induced by moving the head, wearing prescription eyeglasses, and translating the whole body. In this case, space motion sickness was sudden and induced by voluntary or involuntary head or body movements in any plane. These head movements caused a visual disturbance that induced the perception that the environment was oscillating. The exaggerated motion perceptions suggest an increased vestibular sensitivity and/or decreased pursuit-optokinetic mechanisms in orbit and immediately after landing.Reschke MF, Wood SJ, Clément GR. A case study of severe space motion sickness. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2018; 89(8):749-753.

This paper proposes an innovative method for reducing the visually induced motion sickness (MS) occurred in a 3D immersive virtual environment (VE) by utilizing a flexible dynamic scene smoothing approach based on saliency analysis. A saliency model based on fully convolutional network (FCN) is first trained to establish the saliency map, then the probability maps representing the salient information and the non-salient information are combined to alter the field of view (FOV) by smoothing the non-salient area. An experiment is conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. The experimental data demonstrate that participants experiencing dynamic blurring VE reports a 50% reduction of the severity of MS symptom on average during the VR experience than the participants experiencing the control condition, which show that the proposed approach can be used to effectively prevent the visually induced MS in VR and support longer duration of users in VE.