Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33510315›Full record

Trial reportScientific reports2021

Virtual reality video game improves high-fidelity memory in older adults.

Peter E Wais, Melissa Arioli, Roger Anguera-Singla, Adam Gazzaley

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04253587 (Cognitive Intervention to Restore Capabilities for Learning and Retrieval of High-Fidelity Memory), which is not on this map. Cited by 34 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04253587 nacompletednot on this map

Cognitive Intervention to Restore Capabilities for Learning and Retrieval of High-Fidelity Memory

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of California, San FranciscoRan2019 to 2021Enrolled50ConditionsLong-Term Memory Decline, Mild Cognitive ImpairmentArmsLabyrinthVR, Placebo Games, Coherence, Tablet
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

34 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
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  3. Designing for Wayfinding in VR: Linking Navigation Interfaces to Spatial Learning and Cognitive Mapping.Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems. CHI Conference · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Peter E WaisDepartment of Neurology, Neuroscape and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, UCSF-MC0444, 675 Nelson Rising Lane, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA. peter.wais@ucsf.edu.
Melissa ArioliDepartment of Neurology, Neuroscape and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, UCSF-MC0444, 675 Nelson Rising Lane, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Roger Anguera-SinglaDepartment of Neurology, Neuroscape and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, UCSF-MC0444, 675 Nelson Rising Lane, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Adam GazzaleyDepartment of Neurology, Neuroscape and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, UCSF-MC0444, 675 Nelson Rising Lane, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.

Funding

Neural Correlates of Discrimination and Generalization in Recognition MemoryR00AG043557 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI WAIS, PETER EDWARD · 2016 to 2018
$739k
NIA NIH HHS R00 AG043557
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Therapeutic interventions have not yet been shown to demonstrate restorative effects for declining long-term memory (LTM) that affects many healthy older adults. We developed a virtual reality (VR) spatial wayfinding game (Labyrinth-VR) as a cognitive intervention with the hypothesis that it could improve detailed, high-fidelity LTM capability. Spatial navigation tasks have been used as a means to achieve environmental enrichment via exposure to and learning about novel and complex information. Engagement has been shown to enhance learning and has been linked to the vitality of the LTM system in the brain. In the current study, 48 older adults (mean age 68.7 ± 6.4 years) with average cognitive abilities for their age were randomly assigned to 12 h of computer game play over four weeks in either the Labyrinth-VR or placebo control game arms. Promptly before and after each participant's treatment regimen, high-fidelity LTM outcome measures were tested to assess mnemonic discrimination and other memory measures. The results showed a post-treatment gain in high-fidelity LTM capability for the Labyrinth-VR arm, relative to placebo, which reached the levels attained by younger adults in another experiment. This novel finding demonstrates generalization of benefits from the VR wayfinding game to important, and untrained, LTM capabilities. These cognitive results are discussed in the light of relevant research for hippocampal-dependent memory functions.

Indexed as

Video GamesAdultAgedBrainFemaleHumansMaleMemoryMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesVirtual RealityYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID33510315
PMCPMC7844043

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.