How sleep problems contribute to simulator sickness: Preliminary results from a realistic driving scenario
J Sleep Res. 2018-04-17; : e12677
DOI: 10.1111/jsr.12677
Read on PubMed
Altena E(1)(2), Daviaux Y(1)(2), Sanz-Arigita E(3), Bonhomme E(1)(2), de Sevin É(1)(2), Micoulaud-Franchi JA(1)(2)(4), Bioulac S(1)(2)(4), Philip P(1)(2)(4).
Author information:
(1)Univ. Bordeaux, SANPSY, USR 3413, F-33000, Bordeaux, France.
(2)CNRS-SANPSY, USR 3413, F-33000, Bordeaux, France.
(3)UMR 5287-CNRS, INCIA- Univ. Bordeaux, F-33000, Bordeaux, France.
(4)Clinique du sommeil, CHU Pellegrin, place Amélie-Raba-Léon, 33076, Bordeaux, France.
Virtual reality and simulation tools enable us to assess daytime functioning in
environments that simulate real life as close as possible. Simulator sickness,
however, poses a problem in the application of these tools, and has been related
to pre-existing health problems. How sleep problems contribute to simulator
sickness has not yet been investigated. In the current study, 20 female chronic
insomnia patients and 32 female age-matched controls drove in a driving simulator
covering realistic city, country and highway scenes. Fifty percent of the
insomnia patients as opposed to 12.5% of controls reported excessive simulator
sickness leading to experiment withdrawal. In the remaining participants,
patients with insomnia showed overall increased levels of oculomotor symptoms
even before driving, while nausea symptoms further increased after driving. These
results, as well as the realistic simulation paradigm developed, give more
insight on how vestibular and oculomotor functions as well as interoceptive
functions are affected in insomnia. Importantly, our results have direct
implications for both the actual driving experience and the wider context of
deploying simulation techniques to mimic real life functioning, in particular in
those professions often exposed to sleep problems.
© 2018 European Sleep Research Society.