THE FUNCTIONAL-ANATOMY OF IMAGINING AND PERCEIVING COLOR

WE report two functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments which reveal similarities and differences between perceptual and imaginal ne tworks within the single visual submodality of colour. The first exper iment contrasted viewing of a coloured and grey-scale Mondrian display , while the second contrasted a relative colour judgement with a spati al task and required the generation of mental images. Our results show that colour perception activates the posterior fusiform gyrus bilater ally (area V4), plus right-sided anterior fusiform and lingual gyri, s triate cortex (area V1), and the left and right insula. Colour imagery activated right anterior fusiform gyrus, left insula, right hippocamp us and parahippocampal gyrus, but not V4 or V1. The findings reconcile neurological case studies suggesting a double dissociation between de ficits in colour imagery and perception and point to anterior fusiform , parahippocampal gyri and hippocampus as the location for stored repr esentations of coloured objects. (C) 1998 Rapid Science Ltd.