# Virtual Reality Cognitive Therapy forAlzheimer's Disease

> **NIH NIH R43** · CLARITYTEK, INC. · 2022 · $445,324

## Abstract

Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD Related Dementias (ADRD) currently affect more than 5.8 million Americans,
costing $305 billion in 2020 and causing poor outcomes such as loss of independence, low quality of life, and
nursing home requirements. Given the scale of diminished health-related quality of life, the need for non-invasive
customizable brain targeting methods to assist AD/ADRD patients is imperative. After the COVID-19 pandemic
impact on AD patients, we believe there is a growing need for identifying more effective non-invasive digital
Cognitive Impairment (CI) interventions that are easily adapted and remotely accessible within the person’s
home.
ClarityTek proposes to develop Virtual Reality Cognitive Therapy (VRCT) that targets individualized aging needs.
This therapy will be structured, based on multidisciplinary evidence, goal-directed, multicomponent, remotely
administered, and designed for a broad reach. We will create a tool to restore or reorganize neural pathways to
compensate for impaired cognitive function and enable mild to moderate AD patients to adapt to their new
situation and improve their QOL. VRCT utilizes a four-pronged approach: Assess, Educate, Treat, and Track.
Interventions for AD must consider all facets of cognitive deficits, especially cognitive skills impacting activities
of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL). VR is immersive, isolating the patient from surrounding
distractions -- crucial for any CI intervention. VRCT training activities generalized to real life, tailored to engage,
adapt, and challenge, will simulate realistic CI-producing scenarios in contexts where these occur. Within VRCT,
repeated CI scenario exposure through game loops will gradually train the patients in practical skills to navigate
everyday situations: medical appointments, taking medications, shopping, recognizing names and faces, and
directions to places. Preserving these skills will improve functional independence. The VRCT intervention aims
to remediate IADL specific disabilities. It will include an optional integration that makes possible asynchronous
online therapist consultations without face-to-face contact, important during the COVID-19 pandemic.
VRCT for Alzheimer’s with CI ranked among the world’s top 5 innovations in an international digital health
competition.
In this Phase I project, we will partner with groups at the HealthPartners Neuroscience Center with Alzheimer’s
research and practice expertise to lead the trial and help design, develop, and optimize VRCT for AD patients.
We will incorporate stakeholder feedback to create a patient-centric intervention targeting four specific prioritized
CI related to IADL, utilizing the digital therapy development frameworks’ guidelines. To guide the project, we will
create a multidisciplinary Expert Focus Group.
In Aim 1, we will evaluate the feasibility, usability, acceptability, and the initial clinical efficacy of VRCT on 36
AD/ADRD patients with mild to mode...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10385270
- **Project number:** 1R43AG076169-01
- **Recipient organization:** CLARITYTEK, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Razi Masood
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $445,324
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-30 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10385270

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10385270, Virtual Reality Cognitive Therapy forAlzheimer's Disease (1R43AG076169-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10385270. Licensed CC0.

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