DO THE COGNITIVE EFFECTS IN THE ODDBALL TASK MEASURED USING EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS (ERPS) MAP WHEN SWITCHING FROM THE STANDARD SCREEN-BASED PARADIGM TO THE VR ENVIRONMENT?

Previous studies investigating cognition using event-related potentials (ERPs) in the virtual reality (VR) environment have reported inconsistent results compared to traditional screen-based paradigms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether cognitive processing of visual stimuli in the oddball task, as observed in a traditional paradigm, maps to the VR environment, thereby simulating real-world cognitive processes. EEG was recorded from 20 healthy participants while they responded to targets (oval-shaped figures), and not to standards (angular-shaped figures). To evaluate the effect of the VR environment, the 2D figures were presented on a computer screen in condition 1. In condition 2, the 2D figures were presented in a VR environment with a room and a table, where participants were seated. The stimuli were presented in front of the participants to allow for comparison with condition 1, ensuring EEG synchronization with stimulus triggers. Condition 3 was identical to condition 2, except that the stimuli were 3D versions of the 2D stimuli. Our preliminary results showed a P3 component elicited across all conditions. Its amplitude did not differ significantly among the conditions. However, it peaked earlier in condition 1 compared to the other two conditions. Our study suggests that the attention-related P3 waveform is comparable when the experiment is conducted in VR with the traditional screen-based paradigm. However, the VR environment may require additional processing resources, which may slow its generation. This study shows that a direct comparison of brain activity patterns recorded in VR with those in traditional paradigms requires caution.