NCT02764476

Embodied Virtual Reality Therapy for Functional Neurological Symptom/ Conversion Disorder

Safety and Feasibility of Virtual Reality Therapy for Functional Neurological Symptom/Conversion Disorder

• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 15 (actual)
• Sponsor: Stanford University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to design and test the safety and feasibility of virtual reality technologies and experiences of egocentric avatar embodiment in the application of physical and cognitive behavior therapy in functional neurological symptom/conversion disorder. Investigators hypothesize that patients will safely use and accept this modality of treatment and will show evidence of a decrease in symptom frequency.

Detailed description

This is a treatment development trial, participants randomly assigned to active treatment will be enrolled in embodied Virtual Reality therapy. The therapy will be based on principals of exposure and behavioral shaping therapies and mirror visual feedback therapy. The therapy will be delivered over 8 sessions and modified as indicated by clinical feedback. A fixed protocol will be developed with exact methods to be used to be determined. After a fixed protocol has been established, a treatment manual will be created to use in further controlled trials.

Conditions

• Conversion Disorder
• Psychogenic Movement Disorder
• Functional Movement Disorder
• Functional Neurological Disorder
• Non-epileptic Seizures

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Embodied Virtual Reality Therapy	Participants will be asked to play a game in Stanford's Virtual Reality Human Interaction Lab that engages visual pathways and involves body tracking and controlled sensory feedback reinforcing movement in real and virtual time by immersive head mounted displays. This game will have subjects fully embody and inhabit an avatar from an egocentric perspective. In addition, over consecutive sessions subjects will be asked to use a mobile smart phone based virtual reality program designed to deliver various and customized emotionally provocative stimuli.
OTHER	Virtual reality	Participants will be asked to play a game in Stanford's Virtual Reality Human Interaction Lab that engages visual pathways.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-05-01
• Primary completion: 2021-12-01
• Completion: 2021-12-01
• First posted: 2016-05-06
• Last updated: 2023-08-30

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States