Why Do We Get Carsick?

You’re sat in a car, just another sad day, 

feeling slightly unwell

but you’re used to this way. 

If you wonder why it is,

let me break it down to bits.

In your ears,

there’s a group of neurons

sending messages to your brain,

sensing your motion like walking,

just keeping you steady,

assuring your balance’s maintained.

So when you turn, or bump, or tilting freely —

just moving your body along to that Jeep —

it stirs up the sensors ever so slightly,

concludes that you’re moving so regularly.

But, your brain can never commit to one.

It gets messages from other organs for fun.

And here’s how it can go wrong before you knew.

And lemme guess:

Are you feeling

headache?

Feeling nauseous?

Feel the creeping urge to vomit?

You’ve got, carsick.

The neurons in your ears

say your body’s on the move,

but your eyes have been fooled

by the, car seats staying absolutely still.

Confused the hell out of your brain —

are you sat in place,

or are you on the way?

Just brain's defense mechanism.

(It thinks you’ve had a funny substance.)

It wants you to get rid of them.

(And the only way out is from your mouth.)

Inside your ear, there’s two systems for motion.

One of them tracks head rotation,

and the other detects the gravitational pull

as well as the direction of your move.

Now, gravity pulls down, but the pull is subtle,

so it gets filtered out to make sure you’re stable.

But when you sway just a bit, brain gets confused.

It thinks it’s gravity, not momentum, you’ve used.

And since gravity’s down, you must’ve tipped around.

But your other system says, “Nah, you’re still right way up!”

Your brain is so confused, it thinks you’re delulu —

which is why you get a headache every time you’re in traffic.

You’re pale, 

you’re lost and dizzy,

and your hands start getting sweaty.

You’ve got, carsick.

Now the brain thinks you’re going down,

but your system for rotation 

says there’s no such orientation.

Oh how, tragic.

It’s a neuronal mismatch

between the two different systems inside your ears —

and both of them against your eyes.

Just brain's defense mechanism.

(It thinks you’ve had a funny substance.)

It wants you to get rid of them.

(And the only way out is from your mouth.)

As to why you get carsick

but your other friends don’t —

some says it’s genetics

that affects your ear development.

That asymmetry

between your ears, left and right,

might be the reason behind

why they’re so sensitive to rides.

Carsick, 

if you wanna feel better,

look away from your phone,

out the window,

watch the tree go.

Carsick,

it’s a neuronal mismatch,

so just make sure that neurons in your ears

are saying the same thing as your eyes.