Behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying contextual processing in naturalistic short video viewing

Contextual processing enables the brain to integrate environmental cues for adaptive emotional perception. It is crucial to understand how this ability operates in dynamic environments of short video viewing and how the brain supports it. In this study, we utilized behavioral and neuroimaging experiments to examine contextual processing during short video viewing. Compared with single-face clips, face-context-face sequences elicited coherent emotional perceptions of neutral faces from emotional contexts. A distributed brain network was involved in the top-down modulation of contextual processing. Temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and precuneus showed sustained engagement during context integration. Activity in TPJ and insula was associated with valence and arousal ratings, respectively. Under negative contexts, global functional segregation facilitated contextual processing, and weaker TPJ-insula connectivity corresponded to stronger contextual effects. This study advances the understanding of contextual processing in the digital media age and may inform future investigations into neural correlates of contextual processing dysfunction in psychiatric conditions.