NCT07393776: FIRM

Effects of Semantically Irrelevant Virtual Reality Experience on Memory and Emotion

Completed NA Last updated 6 February 2026

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Watching VR video in Intervention Group in 156 participants. Completed in 8 September 2023.

Timeline

27 June 2023

Primary endpoint
8 September 2023

8 September 2023

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Texas Tech University
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	single
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	156
Start date	27 June 2023
Primary completion	8 September 2023
Estimated completion	8 September 2023
Sites	1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

• Watching VR video
• Reading text

Conditions studied

• Intervention Group — all drugs for Intervention Group →
• Comparison Group — all drugs for Comparison Group →
• Control Group — all drugs for Control Group →

Sponsor

Texas Tech University

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with Intervention Group or Comparison Group. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

First responders at the Federal, State and local level are those on the front lines of providing support to their communities during an emergency or a disaster. Their work domains are emergency public security, firefighting, law enforcement, emergency response, and emergency medical care. Due to the inherent characteristics of the jobs they perform, they are constantly exposed to very stressful, demanding and dangerous work environments. Such an exposure often leads to mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). More than 80 percent of first responders experience traumatic events on their job duty. Various efforts to treat about trauma have been made to address the first responders' mental health. However, existing interventions are not directly targeted at the causes of mental health problems, which is the memory of the adverse events. The objective the proposed research is to investigate the effect of immersive virtual reality (VR) experience on the memory of an adverse event (e.g., fire).

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Effects of a Semantically Irrelevant Virtual Reality Experience on Memory and Emotion After Watching a Traumatic Event: Randomized Controlled Experimental Study.
   Son C, Parker K, Jamshidzadeh M. · · 2026 · PMID 41747253 · DOI 10.2196/75848