Late Event-related Potentials Research Articles

Can you change your mind? An ERP study of cognitive flexibility and new evidence integration

Cognitive flexibility is an ability that allows individuals to integrate external evidence into previous expectancies. Individual differences in this ability were examined using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs), focusing on the fact that new evidence can either confirm or disprove an initial impression. Written scenarios prompted to make a prediction while either confirmatory or disconfirmatory evidence followed. A final sentence presented participants with a statement congruent with the prediction likely to have been formed based on the first statement or a statement rather congruent with corrective new evidence. A Bias Against Disconfirmatory Evidence (BADE) test rated participants in cognitive flexibility. ERPs revealed that whereas individuals overall typically reacted to unexpected endings (a classical N400 effect) within the confirmatory evidence condition, higher cognitive flexibility scores were associated with smaller N400 effects. Furthermore, individuals showed larger P600s for disconfirmatory than confirmatory evidence conditions, regardless of the final target ending. This result indexes reanalysis processes whenever disconfirmatory evidence was present. Regression analysis of BADE scores and ERP effects are presented and discussed. Late ERP components are sensitive enough to detect new evidence integration capabilities and thus provide a good implicit measure of cognitive flexibility.

How do medical students understand disease behaviors? Evidence from event-related potentials

To investigate how medical students process Western medicine (WM) terms vs . traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) terms and how this is impacted by analogical priming from the perspective of cognitive neuroscience. The experiments were designed as a 2 (TCM terms vs . WM terms) × 2 (correct terms vs . incorrect terms) × 2 (analogical priming task vs . non-priming task) scheme. A total of 26 medical students completed a non-priming judgment task and an analogical priming judgment task on medical terms. During the tasks, the participants were asked to make correct/incorrect judgments on WM terms and TCM terms, and their behavioral data and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Behaviorally, the response speed and accuracy of WM terms were higher than those of TCM terms (both P < .001), indicating a prominent concreteness effect. Analogical priming shortened the response time to medical terms ( P < .001), and the response time to TCM terms was shortened more significantly ( P = .001). For ERPs, WM terms induced a larger P200 (an early positive ERP component), a smaller N400 (a negative ERP component), and a higher late positive ERP component, indicating superiority of attention adjustment, smaller-scale semantic activation, and a higher cost of late semantic analysis and integration. However, the analogical priming eliminated the difference between WM and TCM terms in P200 and N400 while maintaining it in the LPC. This suggests that WM terms are sensitive to analogical attention adjustment, and TCM terms are susceptible to analogical semantic integration. Our findings suggest that WM and TCM disease behavior terms may initially differ in concreteness or the use of a verbal-linguistic system. Analogy is more conducive to understanding TCM terms. This research provides important neuroscientific evidence of the difference in thinking between TCM and WM.

Feature-based attention interacts with emotional picture content during mid-latency and late ERP processing stages

Several components of the event-related potential (ERP) are amplified by emotional compared to neutral pictures. This study (N = 80) investigated systematically how attention to specific stimulus features influences ERPs to briefly presented (100 ms) negative and neutral pictures. Participants had to discriminate either (i) the orientation of overlaid lines, (ii) if the picture content was animate or inanimate, or (iii) if the emotional content was negative or neutral. ERP results showed interactions between the attention task and emotion processing for the early posterior negativity (EPN) and the late positive potential (LPP). For the EPN, attention to distracting perceptual information reduced emotional differences, while at the level of the LPP, emotion effects were selectively amplified when participants attended to the emotional content. These findings reveal the time-dependent effects of feature-based attention tasks on ERPs to emotional pictures.

Altered Processing of Social Emotions in Individuals With Autistic Traits.

Social impairment is a defining phenotypic feature of autism. The present study investigated whether individuals with autistic traits exhibit altered perceptions of social emotions. Two groups of participants (High-AQ and Low-AQ) were recruited based on their scores on the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ). Their behavioral responses and event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by social and non-social stimuli with positive, negative, and neutral emotional valence were compared in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed to view social-emotional and non-social emotional pictures. In Experiment 2, participants were instructed to listen to social-emotional and non-social emotional audio recordings. More negative emotional reactions and smaller amplitudes of late ERP components (the late positive potential in Experiment 1 and the late negative component in Experiment 2) were found in the High-AQ group than in the Low-AQ group in response to the social-negative stimuli. In addition, amplitudes of these late ERP components in both experiments elicited in response to social-negative stimuli were correlated with the AQ scores of the High-AQ group. These results suggest that individuals with autistic traits have altered emotional processing of social-negative emotions.

Effective Evaluation of Finger Sensation Evoking by Non-Invasive Stimulation for Sensory Function Recovery in Transradial Amputees.

Synergetic recovery of both somatosensory and motor functions is highly desired by limb amputees to fully regain their lost limb abilities. The commercially available prostheses can restore the lost motor function in amputees but lack intuitive sensory feedback. The previous studies showed that electrical stimulation on the arm stump would be a promising approach to induce sensory information into the nervous system, enabling the possibility of realizing sensory feedback in limb prostheses. However, there are currently limited studies on the effective evaluation of the sensations evoked by transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). In this paper, a multichannel TENS platform was developed and the different stimulus patterns were designed to evoke stable finger sensations for a transradial amputee. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded simultaneously during TENS on the arm stump, which was utilized to evaluate the evoked sensations. The experimental results revealed that different types of sensations on three phantom fingers could be stably evoked for the amputee by properly selecting TENS patterns. The analysis of the event-related potential (ERP) of EEG recordings further confirmed the evoked sensations, and ERP latencies and curve characteristics for different phantom fingers showed significant differences. This work may provide insight for an in-depth understanding of how somatosensation could be restored in limb amputees and offer technical support for the applications of non-invasive sensory feedback systems.

Is it painful? Playing violent video games affects brain responses to painful pictures: An event-related potential study.

Previous research showed mixed evidence on how violent video game exposure (VVGE) may affect empathy for pain in the brain. This study applied an event-related potential (ERPs) approach to improve understanding of how habitual and short-term violent game play may affect top-down and bottom-up empathy for pain brain responses. A total of 58 male participants with different levels of habitual VVGE performed a pain judgment task before and after 40 min of violent game play while their brain responses were recorded. Results showed that only late cognitive-evaluative ERP responses (P3, P625) were sensitive to the pictures’ painfulness, which were also affected by both habitual VVGE and short- term violent game play. As expected, participants with no habitual VVGE showed an ERP pain effect before game play: higher P3 and P625 amplitudes for painful versus nonpainful pictures. In contrast, a similar ERP pain effect was not observed in participants with high VVGE before game play, suggesting habitual desensitization. Short-term violent game play resulted in lower P3 and P625 amplitudes for painful pictures in the no VVGE group, indicating short-term desensitization. We discuss the observed VVGE desensitization effects in terms of top-down regulation of an empathetic response induced by painful stimuli. Though such adaptation could be beneficial in a violent game environment, possible long-term consequences associated with reduced empathic responsiveness in a social context should be further studied. In all, our findings contribute to the debate on the effects of VVGE on the brain by pro- viding first ERP evidence suggesting empathy for pain desensitization.

An active inference model of conscious access: How cognitive action selection reconciles the results of report and no-report paradigms.

Cognitive theories of consciousness, such as global workspace theory and higher-order theories, posit that frontoparietal circuits play a crucial role in conscious access. However, recent studies using no-report paradigms have posed a challenge to cognitive theories by demonstrating conscious accessibility in the apparent absence of prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation. To address this challenge, this paper presents a computational model of conscious access, based upon active inference, that treats working memory gating as a cognitive action. We simulate a visual masking task and show that late P3b-like event-related potentials (ERPs), and increased PFC activity, are induced by the working memory demands of self-report generation. When reporting demands are removed, these late ERPs vanish and PFC activity is reduced. These results therefore reproduce, and potentially explain, results from no-report paradigms. However, even without reporting demands, our model shows that simulated PFC activity on visible stimulus trials still crosses the threshold for reportability – maintaining the link between PFC and conscious access. Therefore, our simulations show that evidence provided by no-report paradigms does not necessarily contradict cognitive theories of consciousness.

Using temporo-spatial principal component analysis as tool to dissociate latent ERP components of episodic memory retrieval: Objectifying time-window selection for overlapping ERP components

This report details how principal component analysis (PCA) can be used as a valuable tool to dissociate latent ERP components, even when considerable temporal and spatial overlap makes it difficult to discern ERP effects in standard time windows. We illustrate our methodological approach in a data set from a recognition memory paradigm, in which event-related potential (ERP) correlates of familiarity, recollection and the late parietal negativity (LPN) were partially overlapping. By adapting standard time windows based on the results of a temporo-spatial PCA, small yet reliable ERP correlates reflecting familiarity and recollection for identical items and late recollection for changed items were identified, complementing the result pattern observed in behavioral performance. Due to similar temporo-spatial characteristics and opposing polarities in late parietal ERP correlates associated with memory retrieval, component overlap is often observed in this field of research. Hence, the complex interplay of several processes underlying higher cognitive functions such as memory retrieval may interfere with standard ERP assessment. In such instances, PCA can provide promising ways to objectively assess time window selection for subsequent ERP analyses.

Electrophysiological response to visual symmetry: Effects of the number of symmetry axes

The symmetry axes of a stimulus are a critical determinant of visual perception. Although much is known about the effects of a single symmetry axis on perception, the effects of multiple symmetry axes are still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the influence of the number of symmetry axes on brain activity using event-related potentials (ERPs). Our results showed that altering the number of symmetry axes affects both the amplitude and the latency of ERPs. Specifically, the amplitude of ERP components increased as the number of symmetry axes increased, starting at the N1 (165–175 ms) component and lasting until the P2 (230–250 ms) component in the bilateral posterior areas and until the N2 (340 ms) component in the frontal-central areas. Importantly, the latency of ERP components was reduced when the number of symmetry axes increased, starting at the N1 in the right posterior area and lasting until the P2 component in the bilateral posterior areas. The temporal and spatial differences in these effects imply that activity related to symmetry axes gradually changes throughout the ventral visual streams in the human brain.

The relationship between beta‐amyloid accumulation and P3 event‐related potential in older adults: A pilot study

AbstractBackgroundEmerging evidence from animal and human studies shows that beta‐amyloid (Aβ) may induce neuronal hyperexcitability in the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Electroencephalography (EEG) offers unparalleled temporal resolution in tracing distinct neurophysiological processes even in preclinical AD. The aim of this pilot study was to determine the relationship of Aβ accumulation and event‐related potential (ERP) in cognitively normal older adults.MethodAβ accumulation was characterized with [18F] Florbetapir positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Global Aβ burden was assessed by taking the mean standard uptake value ratios (SUVR) of 6 predefined regions: anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate, precuneus, inferior medial frontal, lateral temporal, and superior parietal cortex. All participants completed a working memory task with three levels of difficulty (0‐,1‐,2‐back). ERP P3 peak amplitude and latency were extracted from the task effect (non‐target minus target). We used Pearson r to calculate associations between mean SUVR and P3 ERP at the midline channels Fz and Cz. Since the working memory task induced frontal cortical activity, we also explored the relationship between SUVR in the inferior medial frontal cortex and the frontal channels Fz, F3, and F4.ResultTwenty‐seven (age: 73.9 ± 5.5; MOCA: 27.37 ± 2.0) completed both PET and EEG scans. Mean SUVR ranged from 0.95 to 1.60 and correlated negatively with P3 latency of the 2‐back at Cz (r = ‐0.40; p = 0.04) and Fz (r = ‐0.58; p = 0.002). SUVR in the inferior medial frontal cortex correlated negatively with P3 peak latency of 1‐back at Fz (r = ‐0.42; p = 0.03) and F3 (r = ‐0.49; p = 0.009), and of 2‐back at Fz (‐0.54; p = 0.004) and F3 (r = ‐0.40; p = 0.045). No correlations were found between global Aβ burden and P3 peak amplitude.ConclusionThe negative relationship between Aβ accumulation and P3 latency provides preliminary support for the neuronal hyperexcitability hypothesis in preclinical AD. However, these findings need to be confirmed in a longitudinal cohort study with larger sample size.

Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity Modulate Electrophysiological Correlates of Semantic Negative Priming From Single Words.

In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were registered during a semantic negative priming (NP) task in participants with higher and lower working memory capacity (WMC). On each trial participants had to actively ignore a briefly presented single prime word, which was followed either immediately or after a delay by a mask. Thereafter, either a semantically related or an unrelated target word was presented, to which participants made a semantic categorization judgment. The ignored prime produced a behavioral semantic NP in delayed (but not in immediate) masking trials, and only for participants with a higher-WMC. Both masking type and WMC also modulated ERP priming effects. When the ignored prime was immediately followed by a mask (which impeded its conscious identification) a reliable N400 modulation was found irrespective of participants’ WMC. However, when the mask onset following the prime was delayed (thus allowing its conscious identification), an attenuation of a late positive ERP (LPC) was observed in related compared to unrelated trials, but only in the higher-WMC group showing reliable behavioral NP. The present findings demonstrate for the first time that individual differences in WMC modulate both behavioral measures and electrophysiological correlates of semantic NP.

Attentional bias towards high and low caloric food on repeated visual food stimuli: An ERP study.

Food variety influences appetitive behaviour, motivation to eat and energy intake. Research found that repeated exposure to varied food images increases the motivation towards food in adults and children. This study investigates the effects of repetition on the modulation of early and late components of event-related potentials (ERPs) when participants passively viewed the same food and non-food images repeatedly. The motivational attention to food and non-food images were assessed in frontal, centroparietal, parietooccipital and occipitotemporal areas of the brain. Participants showed increased late positive potential (late ERP component) to high caloric image in the occipitotemporal region compared to low caloric and non-food images. Similar effects could be seen in the early ERP component in the frontal region, but with reversed polarity. Data suggest that both the early and late ERP components show greater ERP amplitude when viewing high caloric images than low caloric and non-food images. Despite repeated exposure to same image, high caloric food continued to show sustained attention compared to low caloric and non-food image.

Anti-Heartbeat-Evoked Potentials Performance in Event-Related Potentials-Based Mental Workload Assessment.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs) on the performance of an event-related potential (ERP)-based classification of mental workload (MWL). We produced low- and high-MWLs using a mental arithmetic task and measured the ERP response of 14 participants. ERP trials were divided into three conditions based on the effect of HEPs on ERPs: ERPHEP, containing the heartbeat in a period of 280–700ms in ERP epochs after the target; ERPA-HEP, not including the heartbeat within the same period; and ERPT, all trials including ERPA-HEP and ERPHEP. We then compared MWL classification performance using the amplitude and latency of the P600 ERP among the three conditions. The ERPA-HEP condition achieved an accuracy of 100% using a radial basis function-support vector machine (with 10-fold cross-validation), showing an increase of 14.3 and 28.6% in accuracy compared to ERPT (85.7%) and ERPHEP (71.4%), respectively. The results suggest that evoked potentials caused by heartbeat overlapped or interfered with the ERPs and weakened the ERP response to stimuli. This study reveals the effect of the evoked potentials induced by heartbeats on the performance of the MWL classification based on ERPs.

Event-related potentials evoked by skin puncture reflect activation of Aβ fibers: comparison with intraepidermal and transcutaneous electrical stimulations.

BackgroundRecently, event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by skin puncture, commonly used for blood sampling, have received attention as a pain assessment tool in neonates. However, their latency appears to be far shorter than the latency of ERPs evoked by intraepidermal electrical stimulation (IES), which selectively activates nociceptive Aδ and C fibers. To clarify this important issue, we examined whether ERPs evoked by skin puncture appropriately reflect central nociceptive processing, as is the case with IES.MethodsIn Experiment 1, we recorded evoked potentials to the click sound produced by a lance device (click-only), lance stimulation with the click sound (click+lance), or lance stimulation with white noise (WN+lance) in eight healthy adults to investigate the effect of the click sound on the ERP evoked by skin puncture. In Experiment 2, we tested 18 heathy adults and recorded evoked potentials to shallow lance stimulation (SL) with a blade that did not reach the dermis (0.1 mm insertion depth); normal lance stimulation (CL) (1 mm depth); transcutaneous electrical stimulation (ES), which mainly activates Aβ fibers; and IES, which selectively activates Aδ fibers when low stimulation current intensities are applied. White noise was continuously presented during the experiments. The stimulations were applied to the hand dorsum. In the SL, the lance device did not touch the skin and the blade was inserted to a depth of 0.1 mm into the epidermis, where the free nerve endings of Aδ fibers are located, which minimized the tactile sensation caused by the device touching the skin and the activation of Aβ fibers by the blade reaching the dermis. In the CL, as in clinical use, the lance device touched the skin and the blade reached a depth of 1 mm from the skin surface, i.e., the depth of the dermis at which the Aβ fibers are located.ResultsThe ERP N2 latencies for click-only (122 ± 2.9 ms) and click+lance (121 ± 6.5 ms) were significantly shorter than that for WN+lance (154 ± 7.1 ms). The ERP P2 latency for click-only (191 ± 11.3 ms) was significantly shorter than those for click+lance (249 ± 18.6 ms) and WN+lance (253 ± 11.2 ms). This suggests that the click sound shortens the N2 latency of the ERP evoked by skin puncture. The ERP N2 latencies for SL, CL, ES, and IES were 146 ± 8.3, 149 ± 9.9, 148 ± 13.1, and 197 ± 21.2 ms, respectively. The ERP P2 latencies were 250 ± 18.2, 251 ± 14.1, 237 ± 26.3, and 294 ± 30.0 ms, respectively. The ERP latency for SL was significantly shorter than that for IES and was similar to that for ES. This suggests that the penetration force generated by the blade of the lance device activates the Aβ fibers, consequently shortening the ERP latency.ConclusionsLance ERP may reflect the activation of Aβ fibers rather than Aδ fibers. A pain index that correctly and reliably reflects nociceptive processing must be developed to improve pain assessment and management in neonates.

Peak selection and latency jitter correction in developmental event-related potentials.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) provide great insight into neural responses, yet developmental ERP work is plagued with inconsistent approaches to identifying and quantifying component latency. In this analytical review, we describe popular conventions for the selection of time windows for ERP analysis and assert that a data-driven strategy should be applied to the identification of component latency within individual participants' data. This may overcome weaknesses of more general approaches to peak selection; however, it does not account for trial-by-trial variability within a participant. This issue, known as ERP latency jitter, may blur the average ERP, misleading the interpretation of neural mechanisms. Recently, the ReSync MATLAB toolbox has been made available for correction of latency jitter. Although not created specifically for pediatric ERP data, this approach can be adapted for developmental researchers. We have demonstrated the use of the ReSync toolbox with individual infant and child datasets to illustrate its utility. Details about our peak detection script and the ReSync toolbox are provided. The adoption of data processing procedures that allow for accurate, study-specific component selection and reduce trial-by-trial asynchrony strengthens developmental ERP research by decreasing noise included in ERP analyses and improving the representation of the neural response.

Depressive rumination is correlated with brain responses during self-related processing.

Background:Rumination, a tendency to focus on negative self-related thoughts, is a central symptom of depression. Studying the self-related aspect of such symptoms is challenging because of the need to distinguish self effects from the emotional content of task stimuli. This study employed an emotionally neutral self-related paradigm to investigate possible altered self-processing in depression and its link to rumination.Methods:People with major depressive disorder (n = 25) and controls (n = 25) underwent task-based electro-encephalogram recording. We studied late event-related potentials, along with low-frequency oscillatory power. We compared electroencephalogram metrics between groups and correlated them with depressive symptoms and reported rumination.Results:Participants with major depressive disorder displayed a difference in late positive potentials across frontocentral electrodes between self-related and non-self-related conditions. We found no such difference in controls. The magnitude of this difference was positively correlated with depressive symptoms and reported rumination. Participants with major depressive disorder also had elevated theta oscillation power at central electrodes in self-related conditions, a finding that we did not see in controls.Limitations:Patients with major depressive disorder were medicated at the time of the study. The group studied was primarily female, so the observed effects may have been sex-specific.Conclusion:Rumination appears to be linked to altered self-related processing in depression, independent of stimuli-related emotional confounds. This connection between self-related processing and depression may point to a self disorder as a core component of depression.

Increased early and late neuronal responses to aversively conditioned faces across different attentional conditions

Faces with emotional information–by virtue of their expression or their history of affective learning–are prioritized during neuronal processing as compared to neutral faces. Classical conditioning studies have shown that aversively conditioned (CS+) faces potentiate different face processing stages as evidenced by increased early and late event-related potential (ERPs) components. However, it is unknown whether and how ERP modulations depend on certain attentional conditions. To examine this question, this preregistered study investigated ERPs to faces paired with aversive screams or neutral sounds under three tasks with increasing attention to CS + relevant features of the face: Participants (N = 40) had to discriminate either the orientation of superimposed lines, perceived gender, or the CS association. We found potentiation of the N170, the Early Posterior Negativity (EPN), and, most remarkably, the Late Positive Potential (LPP) to CS + faces regardless of task condition. This finding suggests that, in contrast to other types of emotional information and learning, classical conditioning boosts early and late processing stages, even if no explicit attention to the face information or the CS association is required.

Automaticity of Early Sexual Attention: An Event-Related Potential Study.

A promising line of research on forensic assessment of paraphilic sexual interest focuses on behavioral measures of visual attention using sexual stimuli as distractors. The present study combined event-related potentials (ERPs) with behavioral measures to investigate whether detection of a hidden sexual preference can be improved with ERPs. Normal variants of sexual orientation were used for a proof-of-concept investigation. Accordingly, 40 heterosexual and 40 gay men participated in the study. Within each group, half of the participants were instructed to hide their sexual orientation. The results showed that a match between sexual orientation and stimulus delays responses and influences ERP before motor responses. Late ERP components showed higher potential in differentiating hidden sexual preferences than motor responses, thereby showing how ERPs can be used in combination with reaction time measures to potentially facilitate the detection of hidden sexual preferences.

Using electrophysiological measures to evaluate the sense of presence in immersive virtual environments: An event‐related potential study

Sense of presence has been often explored in the context of virtual reality (VR) and immersive visual technologies; however, standardized and objective measures of the sense of presence have been difficult to find. Studies attempting to find physiological correlates of sense presence using electroencephalography (EEG) have reported mixed results. In the present study, we used brain event‐related potentials (ERPs) elicited by auditory stimuli to identify an objective physiological index of sense of presence during VR, attempting to replicate the findings of previous studies and explain the heterogeneity of results reported in the literature. Participants in our experiment were asked to experience an immersive virtual environment using a modern head‐mounted display while passively hearing task‐irrelevant frequent standard and infrequent deviant tones as in a classic auditory oddball paradigm. Subsequently, they were asked to complete a battery of questionnaires aimed to estimate their sense of presence during the VR. EEG and questionnaire data from three‐seventh participants were analyzed. ERP components evoked by the auditory stimuli were then analyzed. Late ERP components (after 450 ms from stimulus onset) registered over central brain areas were associated with the sense of presence as measured with questionnaires, while earlier components were not associated with presence. The use of different questionnaires and the content of the VR environment may both be a plausible explanation for heterogeneous results as reported in previous studies. The present study showed that late ERP components recorded over the central brain may represent good electrophysiological correlates of the subjective sense of presence.

Effects of a Combined Motor Imagery and Action Observation Intervention on Vascular Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Pilot Study.

The aim of the study was to identify the effects of combined motor imagery and action observation therapy on vascular cognitive impairment. Thirty vascular cognitive impairment patients were randomly assigned into three groups. Cognitive training group was given conventional cognitive training, motor imagery + action observation group was treated with motor imagery and action observation therapy, and mixed therapy group was given conventional cognitive training and motor imagery + action observation therapy, for 8 wks continuously. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale, Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test, and event-related potential were used to evaluate the cognitive function at baseline, 4- and 8-wk posttreatment, and 1-mo follow-up. There were significant time × group interactions in Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (F6,4.20 = 8.38, P < 0.001), event-related potential latent period (F6,294.24 = 5.10, P < 0.001), event-related potential amplitude (F6,1.68 = 23.08, P < 0.001), and Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test (F6,312.61 = 5.42, P < 0.001). Intragroup comparisons showed that Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale and Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test scores and event-related potential amplitude increased significantly (P < 0.05), and event-related potential latency decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in all groups. Intergroup comparisons showed that the changes of all outcomes in mixed therapy group were greater than those in cognitive training and motor imagery + action observation group (P < 0.05) after treatment. These results suggest that the combination of cognitive training with motor imagery and action observation therapy is an effective treatment on cognitive function in people with vascular cognitive impairment.