Brain series #1 - How the brain perceives colors ?

Honestly speaking, working in COVID amidst the pandemic for 4 months has got me overwhelmed with viruses. I cannot stop dreaming or thinking about viruses, and that has affected my thought processing lately. Which is why, I decided to indulge myself into writing on my second most fav subject - Neuroscience. Brains are my fav.

It's exciting to inform all my inquisitive readers that I am starting a series of articles on the brain. Common questions related to brain science we all have in our mind but don't know the science behind. So presenting to you my first article of the brain series. I am sure you all will learn a lot from these series. Good luck !

Vibrancy in terms of lifestyle or vision is satisfying to the soul. Be it painting a portrait, selecting your room’s color, buying clothes, using highlighters, so on and so forth; humans always go with one color they are attracted to the most. In my case, I love blue, orange and purple. Everyone likes different colors. But have you thought of how these colors have an impact on your brain ? And why did you like one color the most, out of all the colors in this world ? Why do you see different colors and shades ? The answer to your questions lies in this article.

Science behind seeing colors :

You see a variety of colors because of the ability of your eyes (photoreceptor cells) and brain to distinguish different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. It is these photoreceptor cells that give us the ability to detect the presence and intensity of light. They allow our brain to construct the picture of the world around us. The human eye and brain together translate light into different colors. Brain helps the photoreceptor cells to see colors. Just like the prism separates light into different colors. Light receptors within the eye transmit messages to the brain, which produces the familiar sensations of color.

Cones are one type of photoreceptor, located in the retina that respond to light. Most of us have 6 to 7 million cones, and almost all of them are concentrated on a 0.3 millimeter spot on the retina called the ‘fovea centralis’. Specific detection of different wavelengths through independent channels gives our view of the world additional high resolution. For instance, red and green colors look like near identical shades of gray in black and white photos. Technically, color is an illusion created by our brain.

Impact of colors on you, your brain and your feelings :

Colour is a powerful communication tool and can be used to signal action, influence mood, and even influence physiological reactions. Certain colors have been associated with increased blood pressure, increased metabolism, and eyestrain. So how exactly do colors work? How do colors impact mood and behavior ? Why do different colors have different kinds of impact on you ? All this happens in the subconscious part of the brain without you realizing it. It’s because of the impact of color on the brain, which leads to an impact on your senses, feelings, emotions and memories. Color impacts the brain negatively as well as positively. Color psychological effects on the brain. It can also greatly affect our physiology, since it influences anxiety, pulse, blood flow and arousal.

Let’s get to know the impact of colors on your brain.

Red in the head - If you notice, maximum food brands have a red or orange logo and their shades. Why ? Because these ‘hot shades’ arouse, influence our brain and have an impact on our hunger. Thus, if we look at these logos or brands, we feel hungry and eventually buy ourselves food from there. If you have been to gaming parlors or casinos, you might have seen red lights in all of them. This is because red lights excite us and benefit their owners as we stay longer, play more games and gamble. These warm colors also evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility. (Perhaps red is known as color of love as it can evoke excitement as well as anger haha)

The strange orange – This color is loved by babies because the surroundings are new to them. Although sometimes afraid, babies love being near people. Orange color is considered as friendly and confident and is thus loved by babies as it reminds them of something positive and also that they are not alone in the world and have people to be looked after by.

Yellow mellow - Why do they call the color ‘yellow’ as ‘mellow’ ? It is because yellow is thought to stimulate the nerves and purify the body. It gives you a happy feeling at last.

Pink and its link - The pink color is typically known as the ‘girl color’. No matter how annoying the stereotypes of pink color being related to girls and women might be, the fact is that pink revolves around femininity, playfulness, immaturity and unconditional love. Probably the reason why famous feminine brands have pink logos.

Circle the Purple – This color is considered to be a royal color as it was difficult to extract this color in earlier times and thus expensive; which is why the noblemen had this color in their room or purple coloured things. Purple color is connected to power, nobility, luxury, wisdom, and spirituality. But too much purple color can cause frustration. Some perceive its overuse as arrogant.

Lean towards green - Talking about the color that has been declining due to urban exploitation - a walk on the grass, laying on grass watching the skies, going on a long drive admiring greenery near you or even hiking is loved by all because green color ‘calms’ you. It also gives a sensation of health as all the healthy food is mostly green. Green evokes feelings of tranquility.

Blue hue - Did you know if you’re looking at royal blue or sky blue, your brain feels a different emotion to each? Maybe the royal blue gives you a dark feeling or an idea; whereas the sky blue color reminds you of the ocean. Blue is believed to soothe illnesses and treat pain; which is one of the reasons it is used to paint some hospital rooms with psychiatric wards. According to anecdotal evidence, the city with blue-coloured streetlights led to reduced crime.

Back to black - Black is often described as the color which is powerful, mysterious, and even ominous ! This color usually represents ‘boldness’ and is thus considered to be powerful.

Bright white - Last but not the least, white color represents innocence, goodness, cleanliness, and humility. White color makes everything else noticeable too, but sometimes, too much of white color causes eye strain. Personally, I have loved white coloured things because I believe that this color is selfless. Somehow, white color allows you to notice the other colors near it, without being noticed itself, hence papers are white and alphabets are black – as it makes everything legible.

Now that you know how the brain and eyes perceive colors, I’m sure you will have fallen in love with the science behind colors.

- Rachna Jadhav

@theresilientresearcher