Virtual reality (VR) allows neurocognitive research in more life-like, ecologically valid settings. However, it is essential to verify that VR results align with those from real-world or laboratory conditions. In this study, we examined the detection of auditory position changes in a real and virtual environment among younger and older participants. Alongside behavioral measures, event-related potentials (ERPs) from the EEG were derived.

A total of 22 younger (M=24.00 years) and 22 older participants (M=64.77 years) engaged in experiments on separate days in two environments: a real reverberant laboratory environment with physical loudspeakers and a virtual twin of this room (presented via head-mounted display and headphones). In an auditory change detection (“oddball”) task, a broadband sound was regularly emitted from a central loudspeaker in front of the participants. Using a joystick, participants had to respond whenever the sound position shifted to one of four target loudspeakers positioned near/far (distance dimension) or to the left/right of the center position.

Regardless of environment and age, position changes in azimuth were detected more accurately than in distance. Across both environments, expected ERPs, representing neurocognitive correlates of deviance detection and attentional orientation (mismatch negativity and P3b), were observed. However, characteristics of these components partially varied depending on the environment, target dimension, and age group.
In general, comparable results were observed in both virtual and real environments, indicating VR as a suitable tool for auditory tasks in more life-like scenarios. Further research should investigate more complex audio-visual scenarios using VR.