Posted on 11/30/2025 6:44:14 PM PST by Red Badger
Scans reveal a common brain pattern when people see red, green or yellow
Is my red the same as your red?
It’s a classic puzzler, one that’s fun to debate with your friends and family. Do colors look the same to you as they do to me? Now two neuroscientists weigh in — with a resounding maybe.
There were two possibilities when it comes to how brains react to color, says Andreas Bartels. He works at the University of Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany. Perhaps everyone’s brain is unique. Each might have its own snowflake pattern of nerve cells responding when someone sees red. Or it could be that seeing red kicks off a standard, predictable pattern of brain activity. And that pattern might not vary much from you to me.
The answer is overwhelmingly the second option, Bartels and Michael Bannert (also at Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute) report in the October 15 Journal of Neuroscience. They found “commonalities across brains,” Bartels says.
He and Bannert started with 15 people. Each viewed shades of reds, greens and yellows. As they did, the scientists monitored nerve-cell activity across visual areas of the participants’ brains. The researchers then used these data to predict which color each person saw.
The results showed that neural reactions to colors are somewhat standard. They don’t seem to vary much from person to person.
But these findings can’t answer how it feels to see red, Bartels says. How your brain creates inner experiences that are unique to you is a much bigger question about consciousness. And it’s one that will no doubt continue to be debated for a long time.
I can see more colours than greater than half the population. Im probably better than 2/3 of the population for colour differentiation.
However, there are a few people who can see ultraviolet and that really brings out colour. If you look up Ravens and crows under UVlight, they look lit up like a rainbow.
“...Ravens and crows under UVlight, they look lit up like a rainbow.”
My wife says that I glow under UV light - but nothing about a rainbow. I think it’s just my extremely light complexion due to my Scottish heritage... I can sunburn under a 100 watt bulb!! :-)
Red... 🤔🤔🤔 Badger
Red...
We must change you to “RGB Badger”
Maybe 😏😏😏
https://youtu.be/yqsLPW7Xi-w?si=W_wiw4HuPZlOxS7E
No, we shall call you
Silver, Blue and Gold Badger
https://youtu.be/xKOUm-Mt3k0?si=TfRto2sray8rpNkd
I like that one can make that “spin” in either direction ⬇️⬆️
LOL!!!
I agree.
I see shades of colors better than my spouse.
It would be very strange/unusual if perceptions of things like color varied greatly for each individual. ie pattern recognition is probably the very similar for everybody. We may have our own unique thoughts and preferences, but your green is very likely my green too.
I had that album!.............
In the computer world, 8-bit RGB (24 bits total) gives 16,777,216 colors; and, women can name them all.
I think you're missing the point. From a physical standpoint, colors radiate at their own unique frequencies. We can measure them with optical devices.
The question in the article however, is whether or not we all perceive those colors the same way in our brain. Perhaps your own personal experiences affect your perception. It's almost like beauty--why do we find some people attractive and others, not so much?
I see two to three red ♥️ / purple 💜 rings (varies)
Spinning Wheel
Got to go ‘round
https://youtu.be/SFEewD4EVwU?si=VNWDhZ4VCmbvw2Xm
I’ll never know, because I can’t see with your eyes.
However, if someone grows up seeing "red" as "red", "yellow" as "yellow", etc. then your brain will react pretty much the same way, correct?
Doesn't that make this experiment invalid?
All our eyes and its subsequent part, like retina, cones and rods are all the same. The optic nerves are all the same. The only differences would be how each individual’s brain cells interpret the signals coming from the eyes and nerves.
We all see ‘red and yellow and pink and green’ as the old song goes, but if I could see what you see would we both see the same colors? If I looked through your optical system would trees be blue and the sky be orange?............
Couldn’t the subgroup of hunter-gatherers that saw colors differently be equally likely to have had an advantage?
Or perhaps be equally advantageous at hunting different game and gathering different foodstuffs?
Regarding women, what man would distinguish puce or mauve? Then they further distinguish these as “morning puce” or “evening mauve”.
Sounds like an nerve stimulus needs to be devised in order to hear what color each individual announces when known signals are applied.
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