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

Key facts

Who runs it
Boston College
Where
Chestnut Hill, United StatesSee the site
Trial code
Status
Recruiting
People taking part
40 people, planned
Started
1 Jun 2025
Expected to end
31 Mar 2027
Type of study
Interventional, 2 groups
Treatments tested
  • Memory replay
Record updated
14 July 2026

Who can take part

Age
15 years to 35 years
Sex
Women and men
Healthy volunteers
Cannot take part

The registry criteria, word for word

Show all 11 criteriaShow less

Who can take part

  • 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

Who cannot take part

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

Check if you might fit

Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.

  • Are you between 15 and 35 years old?

Where in United States

  • Boston College ONLINE STUDYChestnut Hill, United StatesContact: Lauren Voso, BSTaking people

About the trial

What the trial wants to find out

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.

Read full original descriptionShow less

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.

The 2 groups in the trial

  • Immediate interventionTreatment being tested

    During the first 12 weeks following enrollment, the Immediate Intervention group will engage in daily practice with the HippoCamera app. HippoCamera is a smartphone application that allows participants to record and replay important events in their daily lives. Based on principles from psychology and neuroscience, engaging in this daily practice may increase focus on memory-orientated practices in participants.

    Treatment: Memory replay

  • Delayed InterventionOther group

    During the first 12 weeks following enrollment, the Delayed Intervention group will serve as a control, receiving no intervention. After the initial 12 weeks, they will be entered into daily engagement with the HippoCamera app.

    Treatment: Memory replay

Questions to ask the study team

  1. How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
  2. Are travel costs paid?
  3. Can I keep my own doctor?
  4. What happens if I want to stop?

Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations

Print a page for my doctor

Data and sources

Registry record
Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Official title
Use of a Digital Memory Prosthetic to Support Autobiographical Memory in Down Syndrome
Fit questions
Built from NCT07008989, who can take part
Record updated
14 July 2026