Spatial navigation training using immersive VR in older adults with mild cognitive impairment

Is this trial a fit for you?

A plain-English reading of the study's rules. Only the study team can confirm whether you qualify.

What this trial studies

This is a single-arm study in adults 65 and older with amnestic MCI. Participants will complete twenty-four 50-minute training sessions over four months while navigating a full-immersive VR maze and wearing EEG to record brain activity. The study aims to determine if at least 70% can finish the training and to explore how VR-based spatial navigation learning relates to changes in brain activation in regions involved in navigation. The intervention leverages region-specific brain information to tailor the VR maze design, with the goal of improving spatial navigation abilities and generating biomarkers of learning. The trial will be conducted at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine with support from NIA.

Why it matters

Who can join: the full rules

Inclusion Criteria:

* Age 65 and older with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI);
* Can speak English;
* Agrees to MoBI recording;
* Normal or corrected-to-normal vision/audition;
* Able to walk unassisted for 10 minutes;
* Plan to be in the area for next year

Exclusion Criteria:

* Dementia (Memory Impairment/AD8 screen);
* Medical conditions that affect participation such as vertigo and neck pain;
* Hospitalization in the past six months or plans for surgery affecting participation in the next four months;
* Mobility limitations solely due to musculoskeletal limitation or pain;
* Terminal illness with life expectancy less than 12 months;
* Presence of clinical disorders that overtly alter attention like delirium;
* Active psychoses or psychiatric symptoms;
* Living in nursing home;
* Participation in intervention trial;
* Standard contraindications to EEG including seizure medication, epilepsy, stroke, traumatic brain injury;
* Pregnant women

Where it's running

• Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  Manhattan, New York, United States Recruiting
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  The Bronx, New York, United States Recruiting

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Pierfilippo De Sanctis, PhD — Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• Study coordinator: Pierfilippo De Sanctis, PhD
• Email: pierfilippo.sanctis@einsteinmed.edu
• Phone: 718-862-1828

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How to take part

1. Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
2. Check the official listing on ClinicalTrials.gov for the latest contact details and recruitment status.
3. Contact the study coordinator or principal investigator to ask for pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.