title: Neural correlates of colour categories.
abstract: This study used an electrophysiological marker of visual detection to investigate adults' processing of colour difference. Event-related potentials were collected from the identical colour (green: G0) presented as the frequent or infrequent stimulus within different colour contexts. Critically, we compared differences within the same colour category (G0 vs. green: G1) to differences between colour categories (G0 vs. blue and G0 vs. red). All differences showed a change-related positivity with similar scalp distribution. It was, however, not simply the magnitude of colour difference that reduced the latencies of the change-related positivity. A change in colour category without a magnitude difference also reduced latency of the event-related potential. Thus, for the first time we report an independent neural correlate of a colour category.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, University of London, London, UK. e.fonteneau@gold.ac.uk
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fonteneau
authors.forename: Jules
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Davidoff
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time