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

Recruiting now · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Memory Replay, HippoCamera

In brief

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.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07008989

Run by

Boston College

People needed

40

Starts

2025-06-01

Expected to finish

2027-03-31

Last updated by the study team

2026-07-14

Who can join

Age: 15 and older, up to 35. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Diagnosis of Down syndrome
• Daily access to a smart phone
• The ability to create and replay memories using HippoCamera with limited support from a guardian
• Informed consent obtained from parent or guardian (or participant, if legally independent)
• Informed verbal assent obtained from participant
• Ability to comprehend instructions, denoted by parent/guardian acknowledgment
• English as a primary written and spoken language
• Normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing
• All races/ethnicities and socio-economic statuses

You may not qualify if…

• Autism
• Non-native speaker of English (acquired after the age of 5)

Where it is running

• Boston College ONLINE STUDY — Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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