MedTrace Logo

Verbal Memory Training Using Virtual Reality in Schizophrenia

NCT04251195 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 30

Last updated 2023-04-14

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Verbal episodic memory is an independent declarative memory system associated with language and is responsible for storage and conscious recall of previous personal experiences. Verbal episodic memory is impaired in schizophrenia and is related to patients' functional outcomes. Because no medication has shown clear positive effects on verbal memory impairment in schizophrenia, there is a great need to find effective cognitive remediation treatments (CRT) that could improve this domain in this psychiatric population. Although CRT programs have shown small to moderate positive effects on verbal memory in individuals with schizophrenia, traditional lab-based computerised cognitive interventions have notable attrition rates. In recent years, along with the advancement of technology, the development of Virtual Reality (VR) has allowed the possibility for new training techniques. Previous studies have established the initial feasibility and safety of using VR in schizophrenia population. However, no studies have examined the feasibility, safety and efficacy of combining VR technology with verbal memory training among individuals with schizophrenia. Thus, in this study, we will adapt an exercise from the Strategy for Semantic Association Memory (SESAME; (Guimond et al., 2018; Guimond \& Lepage, 2016) training to a VR environment. We aim to determine the feasibility of using virtual reality in the context of a cognitive remediation intervention and to assess the initial efficacy of our verbal memory training on the use of semantic encoding strategies in people with schizophrenia. We also aim to assess participants' experience and tolerability of the VR training.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive Intervention

Participants will undergo 15 minutes of a cognitively challenging activity in the Virtual Reality environment. (More details about each condition will be added after study completion to protect the blinding of our participants).

BEHAVIORAL

Active Control Intervention

Participants will undergo 15 minutes of a cognitively challenging activity in the Virtual Reality environment. (More details about each condition will be added after study completion to protect the blinding of our participants).

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Synthia Guimond, PhD · Royal Ottawa Mental Health Center

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
20 Years
Max Age
60 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2019-02-12
Primary Completion
2023-02-17
Completion
2023-02-17

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04251195 on ClinicalTrials.gov