Short-term memory for colour following posterior hemispheric lesions in man

Short-term memory for colour was studied in five patients with circumscribed posterior hemispheric lesions. It was impaired independently of colour discrimination in one and more than colour discrimination in two patients. Two patients were normal in colour short-term memory, one with normal and one with deficient colour discrimination performance. Deficient performance in colour short-term memory was associated with bilateral lesions of the inferior occipitotemporal junction including the lateral part of the fusiform gyrus or with a unilateral lesion of the left parieto-occipital convexity. An additional colour constancy deficit was found in the former but not the latter condition. Thus, colour short-term memory can be affected independently of colour discrimination or colour constancy, and may depend on at least two distinct neural circuits.