Cybersickness is a major barrier to the adoption of virtual reality (VR), yet its underlying neurophysiological mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study investigated whether vestibulomotor responses, quantified using coherence and gain between electrical vestibular stimulation (EVS) and mediolateral centre-of-pressure (ML-CoP) responses, are associated with susceptibility to cybersickness....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable change for audiology clinical practice at this time; findings are preliminary and directed toward understanding cybersickness mechanisms rather than hearing or vestibular rehabilitation protocols.
As virtual reality becomes an emerging platform for audiology assessment and aural rehabilitation, understanding vestibular contributions to cybersickness is relevant for designing tolerable VR-based hearing care tools.
- 01Investigates vestibulomotor coupling (balance-to-movement connection) as a mechanism of cybersickness in VR.
- 02Gain (sensitivity/strength of the vestibular signal) is a key neurophysiological measure.
- 03Cybersickness may limit VR uptake in clinical audiology and rehabilitation settings.
- 04Findings are mechanistic and not yet directly clinically applicable.
- 05Published in Journal of Neurophysiology (DOI: 10.1152/jn.00209.2026).
Vestibulomotor coupling and gain are neurophysiological mechanisms underlying cybersickness in virtual reality.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42507995
- DOI
- 10.1152/jn.00209.2026.
- Journal
- Journal of Neurophysiology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Individuals exposed to virtual reality environments, assessed for cybersickness susceptibility
- Intervention
- Virtual reality exposure with measurement of vestibulomotor coupling and gain
Primary outcomes
Vestibulomotor coupling magnitude; Vestibulomotor gain; Cybersickness severity