Virtual Reality Based Interventions After Brain Injury

NCT07586566 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2026-01259-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 15
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

After a brain injury, cognitive impairments are common, affecting an individual's independence and quality of life. Although various training programs are used in rehabilitation, it remains unclear how effective they are in real-life settings. The project now being planned at CogTech, a technology-driven rehabilitation unit at Danderyd Hospital, aims to evaluate new methods that can enhance both training effectiveness and motivation. In the project, the effect of game-based training in virtual reality (VR) on cognition will be evaluated. VR offers a more realistic and engaging environment, which may improve the transfer of training outcomes to everyday situations. In this feasibility study, ten patients at the clinic will receive VR-training at 15 occasions in addition to rehabilitation as usual. The results may contribute to the development of more individualized rehabilitation, reduced treatment times, and improved quality of life for people with brain injury.

Conditions

Acquired Brain Injury (Including Stroke)

Keywords

cognition; rehabilitation; vr; virtual reality; ar; augmented reality; acquired brain injury

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• WAIS-IV digit span

  Digit span forwards measures short-term memory, attention and auditory processing ability. Digit span backwards measures working memory and mental processing ability

  before the intervention and within 3 weeks after the intervention

• WAIS-IV Coding

  measures processing speed.

  before the intervention and within 3 weeks after the intervention

• Color-Word Interference Test

  measures cognitive flexibility and selective attention.

  before the intervention and within 3 weeks after the intervention

• The Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT)-III

  measures sustained attention, reaction time, and impulsivity.

  before the intervention and within 3 weeks after the intervention

• d2 Test of Attention

  measures selective and sustained attention, concentration, and processing speed

  before the intervention and within 3 weeks after the intervention

Secondary Outcomes (7)

• Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)

  before the intervention and within 3 weeks after the intervention

• Mental Fatigue Scale (MFS)

  before the intervention and within 3 weeks after the intervention

• The Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ)

  before the intervention and within 3 weeks after the intervention

• Canadian Occupational Performance Measurement (COPM)

  before the intervention and within 3 weeks after the intervention

• Patient Competency Rating Scale (PCRS)

  before the intervention and within 3 weeks after the intervention

Study Arms (2)

VR/AR intervention

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants will engage in cognitively demanding games such as Beat Saber, Zooma, or XR Brain Stimulation for 30-60 minutes, 3 days a week for 5 weeks using an augmented reality (AR) (RehAtt® XR) or VR headset (i.e., Meta Quest 3 or Oculus Rift S). Beat Saber and Zooma are both commercially available games. In Beat Saber players use two colored sabers to slice incoming music-synchronized blocks in the directions indicated, while also dodging obstacles like walls and bombs. Zooma involves shooting rolling colored balls to create matches before they reach the endpoint ("snapdragon"), using both hands for faster color-matching. XR Brain Stimulation is developed to be used in brain injury rehabilitation and involves 3D games in the form of holograms integrated in the real surroundings.

Behavioral: VR/AR intervention

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Five patients will be asked to serve as control participants. They will undergo the baseline assessment and the post-intervention assessment, but will not do the VR-based training.

Interventions

VR/AR intervention BEHAVIORAL

Participants will engage in cognitively demanding games such as Beat Saber, Zooma, or XR Brain Stimulation for 30-60 minutes, 3 days a week for 5 weeks using an augmented reality (AR) (RehAtt® XR) or VR headset (i.e., Meta Quest 3 or Oculus Rift S). Beat Saber and Zooma are both commercially available games. In Beat Saber players use two colored sabers to slice incoming music-synchronized blocks in the directions indicated, while also dodging obstacles like walls and bombs. Zooma involves shooting rolling colored balls to create matches before they reach the endpoint ("snapdragon"), using both hands for faster color-matching. XR Brain Stimulation is developed to be used in brain injury rehabilitation and involves 3D games in the form of holograms integrated in the real surroundings.

VR/AR intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Participants will be recruited from both the inpatient and outpatient units at the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Danderyd Hospital.
• Patients with acquired brain injury in need of multiprofessional rehabilitation admitted to the clinic are eligible if they
• are between 18 and 65 years;
• present with attention deficits and
• are deemed suitable for direct attention training by the rehabilitation team.

You may not qualify if:

• Epilepsy or suspected epilepsy;
• non-fluent in Swedish
• severe fatigue or/and cognitive dysfunction that makes participation difficult.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Danderyd Hospital: lead
• Stiftelsen Promobila: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Danderyd Hospital

Stockholm, Stockholm County, 182 88, Sweden

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Brain Injuries

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Craniocerebral Trauma; Trauma, Nervous System; Wounds and Injuries

Study Officials

• Jonas Stenberg, PhD

  Danderyd Hospital / Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Sciences, Danderyd Hospital

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Jonas Stenberg, PhD

CONTACT

0046702699536; jonas.stenberg@regionstockholm.se

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: PhD

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 4, 2026
• First Posted: May 14, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): June 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 31, 2028
• Last Updated: May 14, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-05

Locations

SE (1)