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We challenge these two claims. First, the apparent independence of SDBOLD and meanBOLD may reflect the presence of deactivations; we hypothesize that although SDBOLD may not be related to raw meanBOLD, it will be linearly related to \u201cabsolute\u201d meanBOLD. Second, the observed relationship between SDBOLD and performance may be an artifact of using fixed-length trials longer than RTs. Such designs provide opportunities to toggle between on- and off-task states, and fast responders likely engage in more frequent state-switching, thereby artificially elevating SDBOLD. We hypothesize that SDBOLD will be higher and more strongly related to performance when using such fixed-length trials relative to self-paced trials that terminate upon a response. We test these two hypotheses in an fMRI study using blocks of fixed-length or self-paced trials. Results confirmed both hypotheses: (1) SDBOLD was robustly related with absolute meanBOLD, and (2) toggling between on- and off-task states during fixed-length trials reliably contributed to SDBOLD. Together, these findings suggest that a reappraisal of the functional significance of SDBOLD as a unique marker of cognitive performance is warranted.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_02202","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,19]],"date-time":"2024-07-19T14:19:29Z","timestamp":1721398769000},"page":"2281-2297","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Reassessing the Functional Significance of Blood Oxygen Level Dependent Signal Variability"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"36","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6760-0981","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Reece","family":"Roberts","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Auckland"}]},{"given":"Kristina","family":"Wiebels","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Auckland"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Moreau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Auckland"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6231-1491","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Donna Rose","family":"Addis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Auckland"},{"name":"Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest"},{"name":"University of Toronto"}]}],"member":"281","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2024090913403475700_bib1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.3389\/fninf.2014.00014","article-title":"Machine learning for neuroimaging with scikit-learn","volume":"8","author":"Abraham","year":"2014","journal-title":"Frontiers in Neuroinformatics"},{"key":"2024090913403475700_bib2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.1016\/j.media.2007.06.004","article-title":"Symmetric diffeomorphic image registration with cross-correlation: Evaluating automated labeling of elderly and neurodegenerative brain","volume":"12","author":"Avants","year":"2008","journal-title":"Medical Image Analysis"},{"key":"2024090913403475700_bib3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2007.04.042","article-title":"A component based noise correction method (CompCor) for BOLD and perfusion based fMRI","volume":"37","author":"Behzadi","year":"2007","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"2024090913403475700_bib4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"562","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhaa243","article-title":"Greater BOLD variability is associated with poorer cognitive function in an adult lifespan sample","volume":"31","author":"Boylan","year":"2021","journal-title":"Cerebral Cortex"},{"key":"2024090913403475700_bib5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2267","DOI":"10.3758\/s13423-017-1418-1","article-title":"On pacing trials while scanning brain hemodynamics: The case of the SNARC effect","volume":"25","author":"Brigadoi","year":"2018","journal-title":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review"},{"key":"2024090913403475700_bib6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0120315","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0120315","article-title":"White matter integrity supports BOLD signal variability and cognitive performance in the aging human brain","volume":"10","author":"Burzynska","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"2024090913403475700_bib7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.1002\/(sici)1099-1492(199706\/08)10:4\/5&lt;171::aid-nbm453&gt;3.0.co;2-l","article-title":"Software tools for analysis and visualization of fMRI data","volume":"10","author":"Cox","year":"1997","journal-title":"NMR in Biomedicine"},{"key":"2024090913403475700_bib8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1006\/nimg.1998.0395","article-title":"Cortical surface-based analysis: I. 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