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NCT Number: NCT06710301

Cortical Correlates of Spatial Navigation Skills in an Immersive Virtual Reality Environment

The goal of this study is to investigate the neural mechanisms that undergoes spatial navigation skills in children/adolescents aged between 8 and 17 years. These skills play an important role in daily life, as they allow us to orient ourselves in familiar and unfamiliar environments, locate objects, interact with them and memorize their position. Navigation abilities vary widely between individuals, change with age and might be affected by diseases, such as the cerebral palsy (CP). Previous studies have, in fact, demonstrated differences in the learning and adaptation methods of spatial navigation skills in children affected by CP compared to typically developing (TD) peers. Through the use of the electroencephalogram (EEG) we want to shed light on the mechanisms that govern this ability with the aim of:

1. better characterize spatial navigation skills in children/adolescents, both TD and affected by CP; 2. investigate the origin of the differences found between the spatial navigation skills of TD children and those affected by CP, improving knowledge of the pathology and thus allowing, in the future, to identify more adequate rehabilitation interventions.

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Key information

Conditions

Cerebral Palsy (CP) Brain Damage, Chronic Brain Diseases Central Nervous System Diseases Cerebral Palsy Nervous System Diseases

Age range

8 year–17 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

IRCCS Scientific Institute E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, LC, Italy

Loading trial locations.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • typically developing subjects aged between 8 and 17 years;
  • subjects with CP aged between 8 and 17 years;

Exclusion criteria

  • subjects aged under 8 or over 17 years;
  • subjects with epileptic problems;
  • subjects with poor head control;
  • subjects with visual problems that can not be corrected with prescription lens;

Treatment and study plan

Preliminary assessment

Other

Evaluation of the cognitive level through the Raven test and of spatial navigation skills through the Corsi test and the maze sub-test of the WISC-III.

Navigation task with EEG recording

Other

Administration of the navigation task in an immersive virtual reality environment and EEG signal recording. The participant will wear virtual reality viewers and EEG cap. The task consists in moving and orienting themselves inside a five-way maze in order to reach a treasure. The participant will be asked to carry out 30 trials lasting a maximum of 120s each.

Primary outcomes

  1. Power Spectral Density (PSD)

    Time frame: Once

    Differences in power values between TD and CP subjects

  2. Navigation performance

    Time frame: Once

    Navigation performance based on the following parameters: number of routes visited in each trial; total length of the path for each trial; error between distance traveled and ideal distance for each trial (identified as the minimum distance to reach the treasure from the starting point); angle of rotation of the viewer in each trial; duration of each trial.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Emilia Biffi

CONTACT

[email protected]

+39031877862

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

IRCCS Eugenio Medea

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Study of the Cortical Correlates of Spatial Navigation Skills in an Immersive Virtual Reality Environment

Important dates

Study start
2024
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Nov 29, 2024
Registry last updated
Nov 19, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

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This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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