Analysis of stimulus-induced brain dynamics during naturalistic paradigms

Naturalistic stimuli offer promising avenues for investigating brain function across the rich, realistic spectrum of human experiences. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of brain activity during naturalistic paradigms have provided new information about dynamic neural processing in ecologically valid contexts. Yet, the complex, uncontrolled nature of such stimuli – and the resulting mixture of neuronal and physiological responses embedded within the fMRI signals – present challenges with respect to data analysis and interpretation. In this brief commentary, we discuss methods and open challenges in naturalistic fMRI investigations, with a focus on extracting and interpreting stimulus-induced fMRI signals.