Context modulates brain state dynamics and behavioral responses during narrative comprehension

Narrative comprehension is inherently context-sensitive, yet the brain and cognitive mechanisms by which brief contextual priming shapes story interpretation remain unclear. Using hidden Markov modeling (HMM) of fMRI data, we identified dynamic brain states as participants listened to an ambiguous spoken story under two distinct narrative contexts (affair vs. paranoia). We uncovered both context-invariant states-engaging auditory, language, and default mode networks-and context-specific states characterized by differential recruitment of control, salience, and visual networks. Narrative context selectively modulated the influence of character speech and linguistic features on brain state expression, with the central character's speech enhancing activation in shared states but suppressing activation in context-specific ones. Independent behavioral analyses revealed parallel context-dependent effects, with character-driven features exerting strong, selectively modulated influences on participants' judgments of narrative evidence. These findings demonstrate that brief narrative priming actively reshapes brain state dynamics and feature sensitivity during story comprehension, revealing how context guides moment-by-moment interpretive processing in naturalistic settings.