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Published online 3 March 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.638

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Perception coloured by language

Babies see colour without interference from the brain's language centre.

Babies and adults use opposite sides of their brains to process colours. And the switch is due to the influence of language, a study suggests.

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  • Can it be that perception gradually is categorized by language rather than coloured by language? If you wire up an artist in the throes of painting, will s/he be firing primarily in the right or left brain? In other words, do babies perceive wholistically then progressively categorize those perceptions with language so that with maturation of a developmental bridge one can manipulate perceptions to e.g. "paint" (left side), or e.g. "describe a painting's colour" (right side)?

    • 04 Mar, 2008
    • Posted by: susan omalley wade