Unintended bias in the pursuit of collinearity solutions in fMRI analysis

In task functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), collinearity between task regressors in time series models may impact power. When collinearity is identified after data collection, researchers often modify the model in an effort to reduce collinearity. However, some model adjustments are suboptimal and may introduce bias into parameter estimates. Although relevant to many task-fMRI studies, we highlight these issues using the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD^®) study. We introduce a procedure to more directly quantify the impact of collinearity on task-relevant measures: a contrast-based variance inflation factor (cVIF). We also show that collinearity reduction strategies—such as omitting regressors for specific task components, using impulse regressors for extended activations, and ignoring response time variability—can bias contrast estimates. Finally, we present a “Saturated” model that includes all task components, including response times, aiming to reduce these biases while maintaining comparable levels of collinearity, as assessed by cVIF.