True, but that is not caused by the descent in itself but by a change of pressure. Therefore in answer to the question
[...] I imagine that, during an emergency descent in which the pilots pick up 5,000 feet per minute (more?), for the duration of that procedure the passengers would have a definite "sinking" feeling in their stomach? Am I correct? Thank you.
The answer would be no, you would not feel 5000 fpm any more than 500 fpm. You would probably notice though as you say due to the pressure, and also due to the oxygen mask falling on your head
