Acute tai chi practice and emotional stimulus processing in adults with and without tai chi experience: An ERP study

= 0.109. The negative-minus-neutral EPN contrast (signed negative amplitude minus signed neutral amplitude) decreased in experienced participants and increased numerically in non-experienced participants. In the primary follow-up, the contrast-change score differed between groups, t(37) = -2.124, p = .040, d = -0.686, 95% CI [-1.33, -0.03]. Trial-matched resampling retained the direction of the group difference, but statistical significance was not stable. N2, P300, and LPP did not show the same group-related interaction. The EPN finding is preliminary and requires replication. It describes an association between prior Tai Chi experience and pre-to-post change in early picture-category differentiation within this specific CAPS task, not a general emotional-processing effect, a Tai Chi-specific effect, a reduction in negative emotion, or a therapeutic benefit.