RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The Variability of Neural Responses to Naturalistic Videos Change with Age and Sex JF eneuro JO eNeuro FD Society for Neuroscience SP ENEURO.0244-17.2017 DO 10.1523/ENEURO.0244-17.2017 A1 Agustin Petroni A1 Samantha S. Cohen A1 Lei Ai A1 Nicolas Langer A1 Simon Henin A1 Tamara Vanderwal A1 Michael P. Milham A1 Lucas C. Parra YR 2018 UL http://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2018/01/12/ENEURO.0244-17.2017.abstract AB Neural development is generally marked by an increase in the efficiency and diversity of neural processes. In a large sample (N = 114) of human children and adults with ages ranging from 5 - 44 years, we investigated the neural responses to naturalistic video stimuli. Videos from both real-life classroom settings and Hollywood feature films were used to probe different aspects of attention and engagement. For all stimuli, older ages were marked by more variable neural responses. Variability was assessed by the inter-subject correlation of evoked electroencephalographic (EEG) responses. Young males also had less variable responses than young females. These results were replicated in an independent cohort (N = 303). When interpreted in the context of neural maturation, we conclude that neural function becomes more variable with maturity, at least during the passive viewing of real-world stimuli.Significance Statement Naturalistic videos were used to probe response variability with EEG in a large developmental cohort. Our results are consistent with developmental theories positing that neural variability increases with maturation, and that neural maturation typically occurs earlier in females. These results differ from those observed with fMRI, where an increase in stereotyped responses with age is observed during development.