RECRUITING

A VIRTUAL Three-month Intervention Study of the Effects of a Smartphone Application (HippoCamera) on Memory in Teens and Young Adults With Down Syndrome

Study Overview

This clinical trial focuses on testing the efficacy of different digital interventions to promote re-engagement in cancer-related long-term follow-up care for adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors of childhood cancer.

Description

Down syndrome is a chromosomal abnormality associated with significant deficits across multiple cognitive domains, including a disproportionate deficit in hippocampally-dependent memory. In other words, individuals with Down syndrome may have a particular difficulty remembering specific details from past events. One way this manifests itself is in overgeneral autobiographical memory, or a tendency to remember the general gist of an event or cluster of events, rather than a single, isolated event. This overgeneral memory makes it difficult for individuals with Down syndrome to access their past, can interfere with attempts to becoming more independent, and increases anxiety and depression. In the current VIRTUAL study, the investigators test whether a new digital memory prosthetic-HippoCamera-can enhance specific autobiographical memory in individuals with Down syndrome. In HippoCamera, users are asked to record and replay events from their daily lives. This replay is curated by a research-based algorithm in HippoCamera that optimizes consolidation of these events over time and has been shown to enhance memory specificity in other populations with memory impairments, particularly those that stem from hippocampal disfunction. It is, therefore, likely that similar enhancements in autobiographical memory specificity will be identified in individuals with Down syndrome, highlighting the benefits of this applications in this population.

Official Title

Use of a Digital Memory Prosthetic to Support Autobiographical Memory in Down Syndrome

Quick Facts

Study Start:2025-06-01
Study Completion:2026-07-31
Study Type:Not specified
Phase:Not Applicable
Enrollment:Not specified
Status:RECRUITING

Study ID

NCT07008989

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Ages Eligible for Study:15 Years to 35 Years
Sexes Eligible for Study:ALL
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:No
Standard Ages:CHILD, ADULT
Inclusion CriteriaExclusion Criteria
  1. * Diagnosis of Down syndrome
  2. * Daily access to a smart phone
  3. * The ability to create and replay memories using HippoCamera with limited support from a guardian
  4. * Informed consent obtained from parent or guardian (or participant, if legally independent)
  5. * Informed verbal assent obtained from participant
  6. * Ability to comprehend instructions, denoted by parent/guardian acknowledgment
  7. * English as a primary written and spoken language
  8. * Normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing
  9. * All races/ethnicities and socio-economic statuses
  1. * Autism
  2. * Non-native speaker of English (acquired after the age of 5)

Contacts and Locations

Study Contact

Jaclyn Ford, PhD
CONTACT
617-312-4735
jaclyn.ford@bc.edu
Lauren Voso, BS
CONTACT
(617) 552-6949

Study Locations (Sites)

Boston College ONLINE STUDY
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, 02467
United States

Collaborators and Investigators

Sponsor: Boston College

Study Record Dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Registration Dates

Study Start Date2025-06-01
Study Completion Date2026-07-31

Study Record Updates

Study Start Date2025-06-01
Study Completion Date2026-07-31

Terms related to this study

Keywords Provided by Researchers

  • Down syndrome
  • memory
  • hippocampus
  • technology

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

  • Memory Replay
  • HippoCamera