Virtual reality head mounted display (VR HMD) systems are increasingly utilised in combination with electroencephalography (EEG) in the experimental study of cognitive tasks. The aim of our investigation was to determine the similarities/differences between VR HMD and the computer screen (CS) in response to an n-back working memory task by comparing visual electrophysiological event-related potential (ERP) waveforms (N1/P1/P3 components). The same protocol was undertaken for VR HMD and CS with participants wearing the same EEG headcap. ERP waveforms obtained with the VR HMD environment followed a similar time course to those acquired in CS. The P3 mean and peak amplitudes obtained in VR HMD were not significantly different to those obtained in CS. In contrast, the N1 component was significantly higher in mean and peak amplitudes for the VR HMD environment compared to CS at the frontal electrodes. Significantly higher P1 mean and peak amplitudes were found at the occipital region compared to the temporal for VR HMD. Our results show that successful acquisition of ERP components to a working memory task is achievable by combining VR HMD with EEG. In addition, the higher amplitude N1/P1 components seen in VR HMD indicates the potential utility of this VR modality in the investigation of early ERPs. In conclusion, the combination of VR HMD with EEG/ERP would be a useful approach to advance the study of cognitive function in experimental brain research.

在认知任务的实验研究中，虚拟现实头戴式显示器 (VR HMD) 系统越来越多地与脑电图 (EEG) 结合使用。我们调查的目的是确定 VR HMD 和计算机屏幕 (CS) 之间的相似/差异，以响应n-通过比较视觉电生理事件相关电位 (ERP) 波形（N1/P1/P3 组件）来恢复工作记忆任务。对 VR HMD 和 CS 采用相同的协议，参与者佩戴相同的 EEG 头帽。使用 VR HMD 环境获得的 ERP 波形遵循与在 CS 中获得的相似的时间过程。在 VR HMD 中获得的 P3 平均和峰值幅度与在 CS 中获得的没有显着差异。相比之下，与正面电极处的 CS 相比，VR HMD 环境的 N1 分量的平均振幅和峰值振幅明显更高。与 VR HMD 的时间相比，在枕部区域发现了显着更高的 P1 平均和峰值幅度。我们的结果表明，通过将 VR HMD 与 EEG 相结合，可以成功地将 ERP 组件获取到工作记忆任务中。此外，在 VR HMD 中看到的更高振幅的 N1/P1 分量表明这种 VR 模式在研究早期 ERP 中的潜在效用。总之，VR HMD 与 EEG/ERP 的结合将是推进实验性大脑研究中认知功能研究的有用方法。