Trial reportBMC complementary and alternative medicine2013
Simultaneous transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation mitigates simulator sickness symptoms in healthy adults: a crossover study.
Trial report in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Investigation of Heart Rate Variability Indices in Motion Sickness.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of virtual reality technology locomotive multi-sensory motion stimuli on a user simulator sickness and controller intuitiveness during a navigation task.Medical & biological engineering & computing · 2020Trial
- Case Report: Relief of long-standing severe motion sickness following stellate ganglion block.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Article
- Effect of Standardized Yelling on Subjective Perception and Autonomic Nervous System Activity in Motion Sickness.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Article
- The Neurophysiology and Treatment of Motion Sickness.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2018Review
- Central Sensitization-Based Classification for Temporomandibular Disorders: A Pathogenetic Hypothesis.Pain research & management · 2017Review
- Motion Sickness: Current Knowledge and Recent Advance.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2016Review
- A comparison study of immune-inflammatory response in electroacupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for patients undergoing supratentorial craniotomy.International journal of clinical and experimental medicine · 2015Article
- A comparison study of immune-inflammatory response in electroacupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for patients undergoing supratentorial craniotomy.International journal of clinical and experimental medicine · 2015Article
- The influence of neuromuscular electrical stimulation on the heart rate variability in healthy subjects.Journal of physical therapy science · 2014Article
- Assessment of Sea Sickness in Naval Personnel: Incidence and Management.Indian journal of occupational and environmental medicineArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFlight simulators have been used to train pilots to experience and recognize spatial disorientation, a condition in which pilots incorrectly perceive the position, location, and movement of their aircrafts. However, during or after simulator training, simulator sickness (SS) may develop. Spatial disorientation and SS share common symptoms and signs and may involve a similar mechanism of dys-synchronization of neural inputs from the vestibular, visual, and proprioceptive systems. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), a maneuver used for pain control, was found to influence autonomic cardiovascular responses and enhance visuospatial abilities, postural control, and cognitive function. The purpose of present study was to investigate the protective effects of TENS on SS.
methodsFifteen healthy young men (age: 28.6 ± 0.9 years, height: 172.5 ± 1.4 cm, body weight: 69.3 ± 1.3 kg, body mass index: 23.4 ± 1.8 kg/m2) participated in this within-subject crossover study. SS was induced by a flight simulator. TENS treatment involved 30 minutes simultaneous electrical stimulation of the posterior neck and the right Zusanli acupoint. Each subject completed 4 sessions (control, SS, TENS, and TENS + SS) in a randomized order. Outcome indicators included SS symptom severity and cognitive function, evaluated with the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) and d2 test of attention, respectively. Sleepiness was rated using the Visual Analogue Scales for Sleepiness Symptoms (VAS-SS). Autonomic and stress responses were evaluated by heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) and salivary stress biomarkers (salivary alpha-amylase activity and salivary cortisol concentration).
resultsSimulator exposure increased SS symptoms (SSQ and VAS-SS scores) and decreased the task response speed and concentration. The heart rate, salivary stress biomarker levels, and the sympathetic parameter of HRV increased with simulator exposure, but parasympathetic parameters decreased (p < 0.05). After TENS treatment, SS symptom severity significantly decreased and the subjects were more able to concentrate and made fewer cognitive test errors (p < 0.05).
conclusionsSympathetic activity increased and parasympathetic activity decreased after simulator exposure. TENS was effective in reducing SS symptoms and alleviating cognitive impairment. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register: http://ACTRN12612001172897.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.