Rosipal R., Trejo L.J., Korecko S., Cimrova B., Farkas I.

We measured the effects of virtual reality (VR) training on the N2 posterior contralateral (N2pc) and contralateral delay activity (CDA), event-related potential (ERP) components associated with visual selective attention and working memory.  Thirty participants engaged in a 3-D VR environment developed for game-like training. The training (10 sessions) was designed to improve visual working memory by enhancing the ability to filter relevant from irrelevant visual stimuli. After five and 10 trainings, each participant in the VR group completed a change detection task (CDT) using a 2-D computer screen. Fifteen control group participants performed CDT only, without training between the CDT tests. In both groups, the CDT's stimulus set size was two or four target objects with zero or two distractors. The N2pc and CDA differences related to the CDT load were visually analyzed and formally tested with repeated measures of analysis of variance. The relation of the neurophysiological results with the behavioral results, including accuracy and reaction times, was also analyzed. Although formal statistical testing did not find a significant difference between the trained and control groups when analyzing least mean square estimates, a considerable effect indicating improved filtering was observed. A significant non-zero difference at the level of several tenths of μV was observed when comparing a CDA difference between trials with and without distractors after ten days of training versus an initial before-training difference. In the control group, no significant change was observed.