Scientists say that joyful music can reduce motion sickness by 57 percent

Ever felt car sick? If so, you and 46% of car passengers aren’t alone. Car sickness and motion sickness overall can be unpleasant to experience and could lead to unpleasant clean-ups in the car, too. However, a new study found a possible solution to car sickness and its symptoms: putting on your upbeat playlist.

Researchers at Southwest University in China found that listening to certain types of music can help alleviate or cure a person’s car sickness. While musical tastes may vary, they found that specifically joyful, happy music had a 57.6% chance of providing motion sickness relief. This is followed by soft music at 56.7% and passionate music at 48.3% respectively.

The scientists recruited 40 participants to screen routes on a driving simulator built to induce car sickness symptoms, screening a group of people who were susceptible to car sickness along with 30 selected participants that reported moderate levels of car sickness in their recent past. By having the participants wear electroencephalogram (EEG) caps during the simulation, the researchers were able to monitor brain activity and identify levels of car sickness in each person. The participants were divided into six groups with four listening to some form of music, one that didn’t listen to music, and one in which the simulation was stopped when the participant first reported car sickness symptoms.

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Upon looking at the results, it’s theorized that joyful music (such as “Horse Racing” by Huang Haihuai, a song used in the study) distracted the brain and even unlocked “reward systems” to counteract the bad motion sickness feelings. Soft music like “Savour” by the Chinese artist Yao Ying Ge, relieved tension, which typically makes motion sickness worse.

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“Based on our conclusions, individuals experiencing motion sickness symptoms during travel can listen to cheerful or gentle music to achieve relief,” said Qizong Yue, one of the authors of the study. “The primary theoretical frameworks for motion sickness genesis apply broadly to sickness induced by various vehicles. Therefore, the findings of this study likely extend to motion sickness experienced during air or sea travel.”

Yue also noted that since most medications used to treat motion sickness often have side effects such as drowsiness, listening to the right kind of music could provide “non-invasive, low-cost, and personalized intervention strategy.”

This is far from the first time certain types of music have shown to have a positive impact on physical and mental health. The term “music therapy” is fairly new compared to other forms of medicine, but the concept and practice has existed ever since Ancient Greece. Around the fourth and fifth centuries, flute and harp music was “prescribed” to provide relief from gout among other ailments. Music has been incorporated in various healing rituals and therapeutic procedures in ancient Mesopotamia through the Middle Ages and beyond. In 1896, it was discovered that sound and music could improve blood flow in patients.

While music is no longer seen or used as an outright cure for ailments as medicine has advanced, it can still be used effectively for a patient’s treatment plan. There's health research from Harvard and Johns Hopkins University that shows listening to music alleviated pain for arthritic patients, chemotherapy patients, and folks recovering from invasive surgery, thus lessening their reliance on medication for relief. Music therapy has also been shown to positively impact a person’s overall mental health and boost their immune system, too.

This study shows another possible way for music to relieve a person of discomfort or help with overall treatment. While it’s not a replacement for any treatment your doctor prescribes, it might be worth your time to create a recovery playlist and field opinions on which songs to add for the best effects.