A Preliminary Evaluation of a VR Application for Associative Memory and Cognitive Rehabilitation

Background: Associative memory is essential for episodic memory formation, and training in this domain has been shown to enhance memory in both clinical and non-clinical populations. However, the application of VR-based training in this memory domain remains underexplored. Objectives: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a VR-based intervention to improve associative memory, focusing on verbal-visual and visual-auditory stimuli associations. Methods: Five healthy younger adults (mean age = 24.6) completed 8 trials of object-name and object-sound matching tasks in a virtual environment. Results: Significant performance improvements were observed across trials, with object-name matching showing higher recognition accuracy and faster response times than object-sound matching. Conclusion: Both tasks demonstrated increased accuracy with reduced response times with training. This study underscores the importance of tailoring VR-based cognitive training to specific associative tasks, offering promising applications in memory rehabilitation and cognitive enhancement.