Brain Health Virtual Reality Study

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Aging; Memory Loss; Cognitive Decline; Cognitive Change; Aging Problems; Memory Disorders; Memory Impairment; Memory Disorders in Old Age; Memory Disorder, Spatial; Mild Cognitive Impairment
• Interventions: Behavioral: Physical and Cognitive Activity; Behavioral: Physical Activity; Behavioral: Cognitive Activity (VR)

• Registration Number: NCT06124339
• Lead Sponsor: University of California, San Diego

Brief Summary

The Interventions for Brain Health Virtual Reality Study is a NIH-funded clinical research trial at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Health under the supervision of the study principal investigator Dr. Judy Pa. The overarching goal of this trial is to use a novel virtual reality (VR) based intervention that simultaneously engages physical and cognitive activity aimed at improving brain health and cognition in older adults. The investigators will compare 3 types of interventions: physical activity, VR cognitive activity, and combined VR physical and cognitive activity over 16 weeks to evaluate physical and brain health changes.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2023-08-08
• Study First Submitted: 2023-11-03
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-11-03
• Study First Posted: 2023-11-09
• Status Verified: 2024-07
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-07-08
• Last Update Posted: 2024-07-10
• Primary Completion: 2028-08-08
• Study Completion: 2029-02-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 150

Inclusion Criteria

1. 50-85 years of age
2. Fluent in English
3. Can safely ride a stationary bike

Exclusion Criteria

1. Dementia
2. History of a neurological disorder
3. Severe sensory deficits
4. Inability to perform intervention (e.g., inability to cycle safely)
5. Contraindications to MRI scan (e.g., pacemaker)
6. Fear of needles/ blood
7. Prior history of fainting due to sight of needles of blood

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: FACTORIAL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Combined, simultaneous physical and cognitive activity	Physical and Cognitive Activity	The combined physical and cognitive activity VR program will consist of a spatial navigation program that increases difficulty and length per trial over time.
Physical activity - Cycling only	Physical Activity	The physical activity program will consist of a stationary bike cycling program. Each day will consist of a cycling program of varying levels of difficulty for 20-50 minutes.
Cognitive activity - VR spatial navigation only	Cognitive Activity (VR)	VR spatial navigation program will consist of a spatial navigation program that increases difficulty and length per trial over time. Spatial navigation is the ability to navigate between multiple elements/landmarks widely used in computer games. A trial is a test of performance or quality of someone or something.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
MST memory performance	16 Weeks	With the study's primary focus on hippocampal function, we will use the Mnemonic Separation Task (MST), a hippocampus-dependent discrimination test of similar objects, as our primary cognitive outcome. The MST is a memory task designed to heavily tax memory processes for making fine discriminations between highly similar objects or unrelated objects.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of California, San Diego; 🇺🇸 San Diego, California, United States