J Korean Phys Ther.  2024 Feb;36(1):39-44. 10.18857/jkpt.2024.36.1.39.

A Case Study on the Effectiveness of tDCS to Reduce CyberSickness in Subjects with Dizziness

• Kim CJ
• Hwang YT
• Ko YM
• Yun SH
• Yeo SS

• KMID: 2563075
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.18857/jkpt.2024.36.1.39

Abstract

Purpose
Cybersickness is a type of motion sickness induced by virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) environments that presents symptoms including nausea, dizziness, and headaches. This study aimed to investigate how cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) alleviates motion sickness symptoms and modulates brain activity in individuals experiencing cybersickness after exposure to a VR environment.
Methods
This study was performed on two groups of healthy adults with cybersickness symptoms. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either cathodal tDCS intervention or sham tDCS intervention. Brain activity during VR stimulation was measured by 38-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). tDCS was administered to the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) for 20 minutes at an intensity of 2mA, and the severity of cybersickness was assessed pre- and post-intervention using a simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ). Result: Following the experiment, cybersickness symptoms in subjects who received cathodal tDCS intervention were reduced based on SSQ scores, whereas those who received sham tDCS showed no significant change. fNIRS analysis revealed that tDCS significantly diminished cortical activity in subjects with high activity in temporal and parietal lobes, whereas high cortical activity was maintained in these regions after intervention in subjects who received sham tDCS.
Conclusion
These findings suggest that cathodal tDCS applied to the right TPJ region in young adults experiencing cybersickness effectively reduces motion sickness induced by VR environments.

Keyword

Cybersickness; Virtual reality; Transcranial direct current stimulation; Functional near-infrared spectroscopy