Virtual Reality and Biofeedback for Teens and Young Adults With Chronic Dizziness
Tests virtual reality added to biofeedback for young people with long-lasting dizziness.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Virtual Reality and Biofeedback for Adolescents With Chronic Dizziness
Key facts
- Where
- Waltham, United StatesSee the site
- Phase
- Early phase 1
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 13 and 25 years old?
Source: NCT07374640, who can take part
Where in United States
- Boston Children's Hospital at WalthamWaltham, United StatesTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- Boston Children's Hospital
- Trial code
- NCT07374640
- Record updated
- 22 October 2026
- Original description
Both persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) and vestibular migraine (VM) are common diagnoses in patients presenting to physicians for evaluation of vestibular symptoms such as dizziness and vertigo. Although they are most often described in the adult population, they are also common in children and adolescents with dizziness. Chronic dizziness profoundly affects quality of life, often keeping children out of school and inhibiting their participation in the normal activities of childhood and adolescence. Overall, chronic dizziness is suspected to be due in large part to a "rewiring" of the brain that alters how cues related to balance and orientation are processed, with overreliance on visual inputs to maintain balance and equilibrium being a common development. Thus, chronic dizziness, especially that which is due to PPPD, is often caused by visual triggers.Read full original descriptionShow less
Virtual Reality and Biofeedback for Adolescents With Chronic Dizziness
Both persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) and vestibular migraine (VM) are common diagnoses in patients presenting to physicians for evaluation of vestibular symptoms such as dizziness and vertigo. Although they are most often described in the adult population, they are also common in children and adolescents with dizziness. Chronic dizziness profoundly affects quality of life, often keeping children out of school and inhibiting their participation in the normal activities of childhood and adolescence. Overall, chronic dizziness is suspected to be due in large part to a "rewiring" of the brain that alters how cues related to balance and orientation are processed, with overreliance on visual inputs to maintain balance and equilibrium being a common development. Thus, chronic dizziness, especially that which is due to PPPD, is often caused by visual triggers.
A multi-modal approach is often taken to treat chronic dizziness, attempting to recalibrate this maladaptive "rewiring" and return the sensory system to normal function. Given the role that visual inputs play in developing and perpetuating chronic dizziness, habituation to visual stimuli should be a significant component to treatment. Treatments often include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), systematic desensitization exposure response prevention (SDERP), and biofeedback therapy (BFB). However, these visually provoked symptoms are often resistant to treatment. One reason for this may be that visual stimuli are difficult to replicate in the clinic or office. One way to address this gap in treatment is through virtual reality (VR) technology, which immerses patients in realistic visual environments.
VR has not been explicitly described in the treatment of PPPD or chronic dizziness, but it has been piloted, and shown to be effective, in the rehabilitation of peripheral vestibular dysfunction. This study aims to integrate VR into the current PPPD/chronic dizziness techniques of CBT, SDERP, and BFB. The investigators will use a commercially available VR headset, which enables the use of VR in the office setting in a relatively low-cost form of VR technology. This study will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of VR in conjunction with CBT, SDERP, and BFB to investigate if VR technology enhances previously established effective treatments to reduce chronic dizziness and PPPD.
Inclusion: Patients who previously or are currently seen in our program who have not already undergone BFB, CBT, and SDERP for treatment of their chronic dizziness.
Exclusion: Patients who exhibit psychotic features, have untreated mental health conditions, or have an intellectual disability, developmental delay, or decisional impairment; Patients with a history of seizures, at risk of seizures, or who have a diagnosis of epilepsy; Patients without chronic dizziness; Patients for whom written consent is not available; Non-English language preference patients.