Is the colour you see the same as what I see? It’s a question that has puzzled both philosophers and neuroscientists for decades, but has proved notoriously difficult to answer… Now, a study that recorded patterns of brain activity in 15 participants suggests that colours are represented and processed in the same way in the brains of different people.
The researchers found that in most cases they were able to predict which colour was being viewed by a participant in this second group, using the patterns of brain activity they had seen in the first group. They also found that different colours were processed by subtly different areas within the same region of the visual cortex, and that different brain cells responded more strongly to particular colours. These differences were consistent across participants.
The paper on Journal of Neuroscience (sadly not open access): https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2025/08/29/JNEUROSCI.2717-20.2025
My critique is… the researchers are based in Tubingen, Germany, and I assume most of their 15 participants are of European cultural heritage (cannot verify… no open access). I would love to see if they can replicate this in a more multi-cultured setting. Some Asian cultures have rather different verbiage for different colors, and I wonder whether that would bias ppl’s perception.
i don’t agree with this reasoning. why would the same neural activity result in a different experience? other than reactionary doubt and preconcieved belief, what reason do you have to actually question this? you seem to be smuggling in an assumption that the same neural activity could result in different experiences, isn’t this a positive claim that requires its own proof; wouldn’t the null hypothesis be that similiar phenomenom play out similarly until there is shown a reason to believe otherwise?
As an analogy, just like dragging a 1000kg at 1m/s is not the same experience as dragging a 10g sphere at 1m/s. The same thing happened “something moved at 1 m/s”, yet they were very distinct experiences.
That being said, Occam’s razor applies here. If it’s the same brain activity, it probably results in the same experience.
But there’s still room for doubt. Since brains don’t all have the exact same amount of neurons arranged in the exact same way. And their chemical composition might be slightly different. They also change with age.
I don’t think science can prove definitely that a slightly different brain structure won’t result in a different perception of color. Just like it can’t prove/disprove the existence of god. Some questions are just unsolvable. But science can get far enough so we say “this is probably true/false”
Two people can have a different experience of smell and taste despite the input as well as the way their brains are processing that input being the same. While not a perfect analogy, I don’t see why assuming that everyone experiences colors the same would be any different than assuming that everyone likes the same food.
I’m not saying I definitely believe that everyone does share color experience, I’m saying the evidence presented in OP seems to suggest they could share color experience, and that evidence should not be simply dismissed. It’s not direct evidence for the belief imo, it’s more like evidence that suggests new lines of inquiry.
Because the brain’s neurons aren’t identical from person to person.