Pilot and Feasibility of MEMI for Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury

December 15, 2025 updated by: Emily Morrow, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Development of Ecological Momentary Intervention for Memory in Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury: A Pilot and Feasibility Study

This is a pilot and feasibility study for a mobile phone-delivered intervention for memory, called MEMI (memory ecological momentary intervention), that was designed to support adults with chronic traumatic brain injury with their memory. The goal of the study is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of MEMI and to assess preliminary efficacy as to whether technology-delivered spaced memory retrieval opportunities improve memory in people with and without a history of chronic traumatic brain injury.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Deficits in memory and learning are hallmark to traumatic brain injury (TBI) and limit a person's ability to participate in medical care, benefit from therapy, maintain positive social relationships, and be successful at school or work. There has been limited progress in the last several decades in advancing functional memory outcomes after TBI, and constraints in the timing and context of the existing rehabilitation model may contribute. In memory rehabilitation, each opportunity to retrieve information strengthens that information in the neocortex, and is thus both an assessment and a learning opportunity. Increasing the contextual diversity of learning opportunities (i.e., in the daily lives and contexts of patients) may improve the rehabilitation potential of patients with TBI.

This study is a pilot and feasibility trial of MEMI as a technology-delivered intervention that extends memory assessment and treatment over time and space. We use a counterbalanced within-participant crossover design to examine MEMI's feasibility and acceptability in daily life and collect preliminary efficacy data as to how using MEMI in daily life affects long-term recall for participants with and without TBI. The study includes a group of adults with a chronic history of moderate-severe TBI and a demographically matched control group. Each participant uses MEMI for two weeks, each in a different condition:

  • Blocked (Active Comparator) Condition: During one of the weeks, participants will complete their initial learning session on the target words, then immediately receive all of the exposures to each of the items in a single block. They do not complete any more retrieval sessions until one week later, when they complete a 15-minute test for their memory of all of the trained items.
  • Spaced (MEMI Intervention) Condition: During the other week, participants complete their initial learning session, and the subsequent retrieval sessions are spaced out over the course of the week (two short retrieval sessions each day) using MEMI. Then, they complete a 15-minute test for their memory of all of the trained items at the end of the week.

This study addresses three aims:

Aim 1: To examine the real-world feasibility and acceptability of MEMI via user engagement and survey data.

Aim 2: To explore preliminary efficacy of spaced retrieval via MEMI to improve long-term word recall in individuals with and without chronic TBI.

Aim 3: To explore how a) spatial context and b) temporal context of exposures affect long- term word recall in people with and without chronic TBI.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
40

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Tennessee
      • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37203
        • Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion criteria:

For participants with TBI:

  • Moderate-severe TBI. All participants were determined to have a history of moderate-severe TBI upon joining the Vanderbilt Brain Injury Patient Registry. This determination was made based on the Mayo Classification Scale.
  • All participants are at least 6 months post-injury at the time of study enrollment and thus exhibit chronic and stable neuropsychological profiles.
  • Age ranging from 18-60, to rule out developmental TBI and limit influence of age-related cognitive decline.

For all participants:

  • Oral and written language skills sufficient for the study tasks. This will be screened in the initial video conference contact with the participant, when consent is obtained.
  • Participants must own a smartphone to access the Gorilla online behavioral experiment platform from their mobile phones.

Exclusion criteria:

For participants with TBI:

• History of medical or neurological disease affecting the brain or language, before or after the qualifying TBI.

For non-injured comparison peers:

• History of neurological or cognitive disability, including TBI

For all participants:

  • Any disability (e.g., vision impairment, hard of hearing, aphasia or other neurologic condition) that limits ability to read, type, or verbally communicate.
  • Demonstrates inability to receive and respond to a text message after training by study personnel.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Other: Intervention, then Active Comparator
Participants complete the Intervention (MEMI spaced retrieval) week, followed by the Active Comparator (blocked retrieval) week.
Behavioral: MEMI (Memory Ecological Momentary Intervention) Spaced Retrieval
Participants complete their initial learning session, and the subsequent retrieval sessions are spaced out over the course of the week (two short retrieval sessions each day) using MEMI. Then, they complete a 15-minute test for their memory of all of the trained items at the end of the week.
Behavioral: Blocked Retrieval
Participants will complete their initial learning session on the target words, then immediately receive all of the exposures to each of the items in a single block. They do not complete any more retrieval sessions until one week later, when they complete a 15-minute test for their memory of all of the trained items.
Other: Active Comparator, then Intervention
Participants complete the Active Comparator (blocked retrieval) week, followed by the Intervention (MEMI spaced retrieval) week.
Behavioral: MEMI (Memory Ecological Momentary Intervention) Spaced Retrieval
Participants complete their initial learning session, and the subsequent retrieval sessions are spaced out over the course of the week (two short retrieval sessions each day) using MEMI. Then, they complete a 15-minute test for their memory of all of the trained items at the end of the week.
Behavioral: Blocked Retrieval
Participants will complete their initial learning session on the target words, then immediately receive all of the exposures to each of the items in a single block. They do not complete any more retrieval sessions until one week later, when they complete a 15-minute test for their memory of all of the trained items.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Acceptability
Time Frame: 1 week in each intervention condition
Acceptability of Intervention Measure (4 = completely disagree/not acceptable - worse, 20 = completely agree/acceptable - better)
1 week in each intervention condition
Feasibility (Engagement)
Time Frame: 1 week in each intervention condition
Number of possible sessions that participants complete in each condition (min: 0 - worse, max: 2 for Blocked and 12 for MEMI - better)
1 week in each intervention condition

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Free Recall of Word Forms
Time Frame: 1 week in each intervention condition
Number of target word forms that participants type without cueing (0=did not remember any words- worse to 16=remembered all the words - better)
1 week in each intervention condition
Cued Recall of Word Forms
Time Frame: 1 week in each intervention condition
Number of target word forms that participants remember in response to prompting (i.e., typing the word that labels a given image) (0=did not remember any words- worse to 16=remembered all the words - better)
1 week in each intervention condition
Cued Recall of Word Meanings
Time Frame: 1 week in each intervention condition
Number of target word definitions that participants remember in response to prompting (i.e., typing the definition for a given word) (0=did not remember any words- worse to 16=remembered all the words - better)
1 week in each intervention condition

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Spatial Contexts
Time Frame: 1 week in each intervention condition
At the beginning of each retrieval session, we ask participants to give their spatial context (the physical location in which they are completing the session, e.g., home or work). We report the number of different spatial contexts in which participants completed sessions in each condition. A higher number of spatial contexts indicates more variance in the contexts of retrieval opportunities, which is a goal of this technology (better).
1 week in each intervention condition

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Emily Morrow, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 3, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 2, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 2, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 8, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 18, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 19, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
January 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 15, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • GR018280

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data collected during the pilot trial will be de-identified and made available following publication of the results to researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Beginning 6 months after results publication. No end date.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Approval of a proposal by the study PI.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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