Carsickness Therapy Based on Brain–Computer Interface Enhanced Mindfulness Meditation Training
medRxiv Preprint Server April 1, 2026 Jiawei Zhu, Zhenfu Wen, Yonghao Cao et al. preprint
A wearable mindfulness meditation brain-computer interface (MM-BCI) system that provides real-time neurofeedback can reduce carsickness severity. In a 10-week randomized controlled trial, 60 carsickness-susceptible individuals practiced mindfulness meditation with either real MM-BCI neurofeedback or sham feedback during car rides and at home. Those receiving real feedback showed significantly reduced carsickness severity at post-intervention and at a one-month follow-up, assessed during regular car riding without any task or feedback. At baseline, susceptible participants had a reduced aperiodic exponent in occipito-parietal cortex compared to non-susceptible controls. MM-BCI training increased this exponent toward non-susceptible levels, and the degree of neural normalization correlated with symptom improvement.