Shared Color Perception Uncovered in Landmark Brain Study

According to a study published on September 6, 2025, scientists have made a significant breakthrough in understanding how people perceive color. The research, conducted by a team from the University of Tübingen in Germany, suggests that different people's brains respond in a remarkably similar way when looking at specific hues.

The study involved placing 15 people with normal color vision in an MRI machine and having them view expanding concentric rings of red, green, and yellow. By analyzing the brain activity patterns, the researchers were able to accurately predict the color and brightness of what each person was seeing. This indicates that if one person's visual signals were diverted to another's brain, the color would likely be recognized as the same.

However, the researchers acknowledge that this does not necessarily mean everyone experiences color in the exact same way. The famous "Dress" phenomenon, where some people saw the dress as blue and black while others saw it as gold and white, demonstrates that color perception can still vary between individuals. This is because color perception involves the brain's interpretation of visual signals, which can be influenced by factors like lighting conditions.

Despite these individual differences, the new study provides strong evidence that humans share a fundamental similarity in how their brains process color information. This suggests that color perception has been an important evolutionary adaptation, as the ability to accurately identify and distinguish colors would have conferred significant advantages for survival and navigation.