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Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics and the University of Tübingen used neuroimaging techniques to show that brain activity evoked by specific colors is similar across different human participants. With the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers identified typical processing patterns on the brain scans that were associated with different colors within each brain, and then tested how similar these patterns were across the brains of the individuals.
They found that each color is represented by a distinct spatial map of the visual field within every brain area. Although these maps differed across areas along the visual processing hierarchy, they were consistent across individuals. The authors therefore suggest that an as-yet-unidentified evolutionary pressure must have shaped this systematic organization of color in the brain.
fMRI method reveals reliable statements on how the brain processes colors
For their study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the team led by neuroscientists Michael Bannert and Andreas Bartels used a computer-assisted analytical method that allowed them to make reliable statements about which colors and brightnesses were seen based on the fMRI images of the test subjects. They also found that colors and brightnesses are encoded differently depending on their location in the human visual field.
The researchers first calibrated the participants' measurement data using standardized black-and-white patterns to create a basis for comparison across participants. They then tested how brain activity changed when colors were shown. They used the patterns from a first test group to identify which colors were being viewed in a second group based solely on the measurement data. In this way, they were able to read color and lightness directly from the brain activity of this second group.
"Each visual brain area is spatially organized as a map of our field of vision, known as field map. It represents the spatial structure of what we see. When light hits the retina, the information is not transmitted randomly. Each point has a precise positional value, and this spatial order is preserved in its transmission from the optic nerves of the retina to the higher processing areas of the brain. This creates an organized image and a corresponding activity pattern in the visual cortex of our brain, which we were able to evaluate using fMRI across distinct visual areas," explains Michael Bannert, first author of the study.
Processing patterns for color vision have evolved during evolution
It was already known that individual areas of the visual center in the brain perform specific tasks, such as color, face, or motion-processing. “It was unclear however whether individual colors also have a common footprint that is preserved across brains,” explains Andreas Bartels. Now, the researchers have shown that the processing of colors is closely linked to the spatial structure of what is seen, and that this link is preserved across participants during evolution.
The study by Michael Bannert and Andreas Bartels also touches on another exciting question, whether all people actually experience color in the same way.
"We see clear similarities between the test subjects in the data. We were able to determine that color distortions, i.e., their weighting across the visual field, are similar in the brains of all people. Light intensity and color value are not the same in all areas of our vision. We interpret this as an indication of fundamentally comparable organizational principles in the human visual system. However, we cannot say whether the subjective experience of a color is truly identical, and even the current scientific methods of perception research are probably not sufficient to determine this," adds Bannert.
The two researchers are not finished yet. Instead, they want to determine whether further investigations into the controlled plastic interaction of the brain regions involved in vision are possible with the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging, alongside the universal validity of their recent findings.
Prof. Dr. Andreas Bartels
MPI for Biological Cybernetics and University of Tübingen, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience
EMail: andreas.bartels@tuebingen.mpg.de
Dr. Michael Bannert
MPI for Biological Cybernetics and University of Tübingen, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience
EMail: michael.bannert@tuebingen.mpg.de
www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2025/08/29/JNEUROSCI.2717-20.2025
The two researchers Prof. Dr. Andreas Bartels (left) and Dr. Michael Bannert (right)
Quelle: MPI for Biological Cybernetics
Copyright: MPI for Biological Cybernetics
A magnetic resonance imaging scanner with 3 Tesla, as used for the study at the Max Planck Institute ...
Quelle: Jörg Abendroth
Copyright: MPI for Biological Cybernetics
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The two researchers Prof. Dr. Andreas Bartels (left) and Dr. Michael Bannert (right)
Quelle: MPI for Biological Cybernetics
Copyright: MPI for Biological Cybernetics
A magnetic resonance imaging scanner with 3 Tesla, as used for the study at the Max Planck Institute ...
Quelle: Jörg Abendroth
Copyright: MPI for Biological Cybernetics
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