HealthyCANOENCT05308433

Cybersickness imAgiNg Olfactory Evocation

A study testing Functional MRI and Virtual Reality: experimental in people with Healthy, run by Central Hospital, Nancy, France at 1 site in France.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record

Search all trials

Trial summary

The aim of this study is to, using fMRI, compare brain activations during olfactory imagery induced by different visual supports (words, pictures, colors and colored arrangements) in healthy subjects. This will allow us to choose the best olfactory imagery facilitator and to assess its effect on cybersickness. Read more about this study

Who is it for?: Ages 18 to 50 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for: Healthy
What is being tested?: Functional MRI and Virtual Reality: experimental
Type of treatment: Medical device
Could I receive a placebo?: No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people: 30 participants
Where: 1 siteFrance
Study dates: 13 Apr 2022to 26 Oct 2022
Phase: Interventional
Are there results?: None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

Ages 18 to 50 years
All sexes
Healthy volunteers accepted
Adult

Who may be able to join

to be of French nationality who has always lived in metropolitan France;
to be right-handed person;
to be enrolled in a social security plan;
to be able to understand the instructions given;
to have underwent a pre-inclusion medical examination;
to give a written consent;
Person with a strong capacity for olfactory imagination: having obtained a score strictly below 2.5 on the fVOIQ olfactory imagination questionnaire.

Who cannot join

to have an inability to read French;
to be recognized as a synesthete;
to have a professional activity requires intense olfactory activity;
to have a partial or total loss of smell (hyposmia, anosmia);
to have qualitative smell disorders (carcosomia, hyperosmia, phantosmia, parosmia);
to have smell disorders of neurological, post-traumatic or neurodegenerative origin;

Show all 10Show fewer

to have uncorrected or poorly corrected visual disturbances;
to have vestibular disorder diagnosed;
any contraindication to MR examination (active medical device, ferromagnetic foreign body, pregnancy, morbid obesity, claustrophobia, … );
subject under a measure of legal protection.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

France1 site

CHRU Nancy
Nancy

Other trials in France

About this study

This will allow us to choose the best olfactory imagery facilitator and to assess its effect on cybersickness.

Conditions: Healthy
Being tested: Functional MRI, Virtual Reality: control, Virtual Reality: experimental
Keywords: fMRI

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

Functional MRIDevice
Also called fMRI
The volunteer will have to imagine the smells evoked by different visual aids. This task will be carried out during 2 acquisition runs of about 10 minutes each. The volunteer should note (on a scale from 1 to 4) the pleasantness of the smell evoked.
Virtual Reality: controlOther
Also called VR control
The volunteer will be immersed in a virtual maritime environment with nauseating characteristics. In the center of the maritime scene, it will be visible the black outlines of a frame. Every minute, the volunteer will be asked to verbalize the level of his general condition via the Fast Motion Sickness Scale (1 to 20).
Virtual Reality: experimentalOther
Also called VR experimental
The volunteer will be immersed in a virtual maritime environment with nauseating characteristics. The visual support inserted in the center of the virtual scene will be the one defined as being the most facilitator of the olfactory imagination during the fMRI examination. The volunteer will be asked to concentrate on the smell evoked by this support. Every minute, the volunteer will be asked to verbalize the level of his general condition via the Fast Motion Sickness Scale (1 to 20).

Study groups in NCT05308433
Study group	Role	What they receive
Experimental	Experimental	Not described Receives: Device: Functional MRI; Other: Virtual Reality: control; Other: Virtual Reality: experimental

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

Comparison of cerebral activations between the different supports mediating the olfactory imagination during the execution of the fMRI tasks.
The cerebral activations between the different supports mediating the olfactory imagination will be compared in terms of localization and intensity of the variations of the BOLD signal during the execution of the fMRI tasks.
Measured: Baseline (J0)

Secondary outcomes (6)

Determination of the visual support allowing the strongest olfactory imagination during the fMRI by subjective evaluations using two 4-level Likert scales.
Subjective evaluations will be carried out using two 4-level Likert scales.
Measured: Baseline (J0)
Determination of the visual support allowing the strongest olfactory imagination during the fMRI test by the cerebral activations in areas recognized for their implications in the olfactory imagination.
The cerebral activations will be measured by the intensity of the variations of the BOLD signal during the execution of the fMRI tasks.
Measured: Baseline (J0)
Description of the evolution of the cardiac activity during olfactory imagination tasks in fMRI.
The cardiac activity will be evaluated by the R-wave interval. The cardiac activity will be recorded via the ECG during olfactory imagination tasks in fMRI.
Measured: Baseline (J0)
Description of the evolution of the respiratory activity during olfactory imagination tasks in fMRI.
The respiratory activity will be evaluated by the respiratory rate. The respiratory activity will be recorded via the respiratory belt during olfactory imagination tasks in fMRI.
Measured: Baseline (J0)
Evaluation of the state of discomfort in virtual reality by measuring the cardiac activity.
Cardiac activity will be evaluated by the R-wave interval. Cardiac activity during immersion will be recorded by the cardio-respiratory belt.
Measured: Baseline (J0) and 6 months maximum after J0 (V1)
Evaluation of the state of discomfort in virtual reality by the "Simulator Sickness Questionnaire" (SSQ) before and after immersion.
The participant will answer to the "Simulator Sickness Questionnaire" (SSQ) before and after immersion (minimum=0 and maximum=235,62). A higher score means a more severe discomfort.
Measured: Baseline (J0) and 6 months maximum after J0 (V1)

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

13 Apr 202226 Oct 2022

First posted4 Apr 2022
Study start13 Apr 2022
Primary completion12 Jul 2022
Study completion26 Oct 2022

Resources

Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
Publications (3)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
Other trials for HealthyStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design

Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase N/A
Primary purpose: Other
Allocation: Not applicable
Intervention model: Single group
Masking: None (open label)
Enrolment: 30 participants (actual)

IDs, dates and publications

ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05308433
Sponsor's protocol ID: 2021-A02854-37
Acronym: CANOE
Status last verified: Jun 2026
First submitted: 4 Mar 2022
Last updated: 15 Jun 2026
Results posted: No
Data monitoring committee: No
FDA-regulated drug: No
FDA-regulated device: No

Publications

Fantin L, Ceyte H, Ramdane-Cherif Z, Jacquot M, Hossu G. French Vividness of Olfactory Imagery Questionnaire: A Potential Tool for Diagnosing Olfactory Loss by Assessing Olfactory Imagery? Front Psychol. 2020 Dec 21;11:606667. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.606667. eCollection 2020.
PubMed 33408672
Fantin L, Ceyte H, Rumeau C, Drouot G, Hossu G. Semantical Visual Information Facilitates Odor Imagery: A Combined Neurophysiological and Psychometrical Approach. Brain Behav. 2025 Sep;15(9):e70835. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70835.
PubMed 40898763
Fantin L, Hossu G, Rumeau C, Drouot G, Ceyte H. Is it all in your head? Reducing virtual reality induced cybersickness by pleasant odor imagery. PLoS One. 2025 Mar 11;20(3):e0319661. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319661. eCollection 2025.
PubMed 40067876

Want to know more?

The sponsor has not listed a contact. The official record may have more details.

Talk to your doctor first and take this page with you. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.

Questions to ask the study team

What is the study trying to find out?
What would I need to do, and how often would I visit?
Could I receive a placebo instead of the treatment?
What are the possible risks and benefits for me?
Will it cost me anything? Are travel or time paid for?
Can I keep seeing my own doctor during the study?
What happens when the study ends?

See locations

Enrolling by invitationObservational study
Collection of Tissue Specimens From Patients With Solid Tumors or Blood Disorders and Their HLA-Compatible Family Members
Neoplasms, Hematologic Neoplasms
Enrolling by invitationObservational study
Collection and Distribution of Samples From Healthy Donors for In Vitro Research at the NCI-Frederick
Healthy Donors
RecruitingObservational study
Oral Bacteria and Immune System Problems Involved in Gum Disease (Periodontitis)
Immunosuppression, Periodontal Disease
RecruitingObservational study
Adaptive Optics Retinal Imaging
Eye Diseases, Healthy Volunteers
RecruitingObservational study
Characterization of Diseases With Salivary Gland Involvement
Healthy Volunteer, Sjogren's Syndrome

All Healthy trials

Study at a glance

From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 15 Jun 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.

Official title: Cybersickness imAgiNg Olfactory Evocation
ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05308433
Acronym / sponsor ID: CANOE / 2021-A02854-37
Conditions: Healthy
Keywords: fMRI
Study type: Interventional
Recruitment status: Completed
Enrolment: 30 participants (actual)
Lead sponsor: Central Hospital, Nancy, FranceUniversity, hospital or other
Study start: 13 Apr 2022 (actual)
Primary completion: 12 Jul 2022 (actual)
Study completion: 26 Oct 2022 (actual)
First posted: 4 Apr 2022 (actual)
Results: Not posted in the source record

Clinical summary

The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.

This will allow us to choose the best olfactory imagery facilitator and to assess its effect on cybersickness.

Study design

Primary purpose: Other
Allocation: Not applicable
Intervention model: Single group
Masking: None (open label)
Number of arms: 1

Arm	Type	Receives
Experimental	Experimental	Device: Functional MRI, Other: Virtual Reality: control, Other: Virtual Reality: experimental

Who may qualify

Ages: 18 to 50 years
Sex: All
Healthy volunteers: Accepted
Age groups: Adult

Key inclusion criteria (7 listed)

to be of French nationality who has always lived in metropolitan France;
to be right-handed person;
to be enrolled in a social security plan;
to be able to understand the instructions given;
to have underwent a pre-inclusion medical examination;

Key exclusion criteria (10 listed)

to have an inability to read French;
to be recognized as a synesthete;
to have a professional activity requires intense olfactory activity;
to have a partial or total loss of smell (hyposmia, anosmia);
to have qualitative smell disorders (carcosomia, hyperosmia, phantosmia, parosmia);

Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Interventions

Intervention	Type	Arms
Functional MRIAlso: fMRIThe volunteer will have to imagine the smells evoked by different visual aids. This task will be carried out during 2 acquisition runs of about 10 minutes each. The volunteer should note (on a scale from 1 to 4) the pleasantness of the smell evoked.	Device	Experimental
Virtual Reality: controlAlso: VR controlThe volunteer will be immersed in a virtual maritime environment with nauseating characteristics. In the center of the maritime scene, it will be visible the black outlines of a frame. Every minute, the volunteer will be asked to verbalize the level of his general condition via the Fast Motion Sickness Scale (1 to 20).	Other	Experimental
Virtual Reality: experimentalAlso: VR experimentalThe volunteer will be immersed in a virtual maritime environment with nauseating characteristics. The visual support inserted in the center of the virtual scene will be the one defined as being the most facilitator of the olfactory imagination during the fMRI examination. The volunteer will be asked to concentrate on the smell evoked by this support. Every minute, the volunteer will be asked to verbalize the level of his general condition via the Fast Motion Sickness Scale (1 to 20).	Other	Experimental

Primary outcome

Comparison of cerebral activations between the different supports mediating the olfactory imagination during the execution of the fMRI tasks.
Time frame: Baseline (J0)
The cerebral activations between the different supports mediating the olfactory imagination will be compared in terms of localization and intensity of the variations of the BOLD signal during the execution of the fMRI tasks.

6 secondary outcomes

Determination of the visual support allowing the strongest olfactory imagination during the fMRI by subjective evaluations using two 4-level Likert scales.
Time frame: Baseline (J0)
Determination of the visual support allowing the strongest olfactory imagination during the fMRI test by the cerebral activations in areas recognized for their implications in the olfactory imagination.
Time frame: Baseline (J0)
Description of the evolution of the cardiac activity during olfactory imagination tasks in fMRI.
Time frame: Baseline (J0)
Description of the evolution of the respiratory activity during olfactory imagination tasks in fMRI.
Time frame: Baseline (J0)
Evaluation of the state of discomfort in virtual reality by measuring the cardiac activity.
Time frame: Baseline (J0) and 6 months maximum after J0 (V1)
Evaluation of the state of discomfort in virtual reality by the "Simulator Sickness Questionnaire" (SSQ) before and after immersion.
Time frame: Baseline (J0) and 6 months maximum after J0 (V1)

Results and safety

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

Research links

Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 15 Jun 2026.
Background: PubMed 33408672Fantin L, Ceyte H, Ramdane-Cherif Z, Jacquot M, Hossu G. French Vividness of Olfactory Imagery Questionnaire: A Potential Tool for Diagnosing Olfactory Loss by Assessing Olfactory Imagery? Front Psychol. 2020 Dec 21;11:606667. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.606667. eCollection 2020.
Results publication: PubMed 40898763Fantin L, Ceyte H, Rumeau C, Drouot G, Hossu G. Semantical Visual Information Facilitates Odor Imagery: A Combined Neurophysiological and Psychometrical Approach. Brain Behav. 2025 Sep;15(9):e70835. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70835.
Results publication: PubMed 40067876Fantin L, Hossu G, Rumeau C, Drouot G, Ceyte H. Is it all in your head? Reducing virtual reality induced cybersickness by pleasant odor imagery. PLoS One. 2025 Mar 11;20(3):e0319661. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319661. eCollection 2025.

Related trials for Healthy

Enrolling by invitationObservational study
Collection of Tissue Specimens From Patients With Solid Tumors or Blood Disorders and Their HLA-Compatible Family Members
Neoplasms, Hematologic Neoplasms
Enrolling by invitationObservational study
Collection and Distribution of Samples From Healthy Donors for In Vitro Research at the NCI-Frederick
Healthy Donors
RecruitingObservational study
Oral Bacteria and Immune System Problems Involved in Gum Disease (Periodontitis)
Immunosuppression, Periodontal Disease
RecruitingObservational study
Adaptive Optics Retinal Imaging
Eye Diseases, Healthy Volunteers
RecruitingObservational study
Characterization of Diseases With Salivary Gland Involvement
Healthy Volunteer, Sjogren's Syndrome

Referral and contact

AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.

The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.

1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Functional MRI and Virtual Reality: experimental in people with Healthy, run by Central Hospital, Nancy, France at 1 site in France.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 7 inclusion and 10 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 15 Jun 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in France. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Comparison of cerebral activations between the different supports mediating the olfactory imagination during the execution of the fMRI tasks. (time frame: Baseline (J0)). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05308433, which also lists 3 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 15 Jun 2026; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 27 Oct 2026.