Colored illustrations of the brain: some conceptual and contextual issues

Illustrations of the brain are increasingly often colored, both on depictions of brain structure and on displays representing brain function. As in many other areas of science, illustrations may have considerable influence on how neuroscientific concepts are envisaged and presented, and color being such a dominant feature of many illustrations of the brain, the rationale, methodology, and implications of using color merit exploration. The different ways of harnessing color depending on whether brain structure or function is being illustrated; the selection of particular colors and color scale; the advantages and disadvantages of color compared to black and white, including the detection of just noticeable differences in the display; the consequences of incorporating color and the attribution of importance; and also the contribution and perceptions of the viewer raise important issues. Consideration of these and a number of related issues, including the wider context of color in illustration, leads to the conclusion that the addition of color represents a powerful and at times unrivalled technique that can be employed in the study of the brain, yet adding color is sometimes ill considered and can prove superfluous, ambiguous, or misleading.