eli5 why do people get carsick/seasick?

Question

eli5 why do people get carsick/seasick?

In: 73

Answer 1

The short of it is that there’s a mismatch in signals your brain is receiving. Your ears have an organ inside of them that contains fluid, and this organ basically tells your brain which way is “up”. When you get motion sickness, there’s a mismatch between what your ears are telling your brain, and what your eyes are telling your brain. Your brain is getting confused and doesn’t know how to make heads or tails of what’s going on, so it thinks you’ve eaten a poisonous thing and tries to expel the contents of the stomach.