Do colors trigger unique brain responses? And do different people have the same brain responses to colors? In a new JNeurosci paper, Michael Bannert and Andreas Bartels, from the University of Tübingen, explored color representation in the human brain to address these questions.
The researchers measured color-induced brain responses from one set of participants. Next, they predicted what colors other participants were observing by comparing each individual’s brain activity to color-induced responses of the first set of observers. Bannert and Bartels found that they could predict the color and brightness of the stimuli observers were viewing by using brain activity comparisons alone. This study points to distinct neural representations of color that people share.
While other researchers have decoded what color a person was seeing using color responses previously recorded from the same person, this work shows that color decoding is possible even when using color responses from other brains. “We can’t say that one person’s red looks the same as another person’s red. But to see that some sensory aspects of a subjective experience are conserved across people’s brains is new,” says Bannert.
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About JNeurosci
JNeurosci was launched in 1981 as a means to communicate the findings of the highest quality neuroscience research to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience that will have an immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to authors' changing publishing needs, representing breadth of the field and diversity in authorship.
About The Society for Neuroscience
The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 35,000 members in more than 95 countries.
JNeurosci
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2717-20.2025
People
Large-Scale Color Biases in the Retinotopic Functional Architecture Are Region Specific and Shared Across Human Brains
8-Sep-2025
The authors declare no competing financial interests.