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The Colors We See May Not Be The Colors We Remember

Capture Queen // Flickr Creative Commons

From fuchsia to salmon, azure to aquamarine, the human brain is capable of distinguishing millions of colors. Yet, when it comes to remembering exact hues, our brains fall short.

A Johns Hopkins-led team has published a new paper that says that when remembering a color, our brains drop the specifics. Instead, we retain the “best” version of a color. Nathan talks with Jonathan Flombaum, lead author of the paper. Flombaum is also a cognitive psychologist and assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins.

Audio for this segment will be available by the end of the day.

Ashley Sterner is the co-host of WYPR’s On The Record. With co-host Sheilah Kast, Ashley interviews artists, scientists, community leaders, and others.