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Vision cells can pull double duty in the brain, detecting both color and shape

A study in monkeys finds many neurons fire in response to more than one aspect of an object

colored blocks

COLOR CODING  Some nerve cells in an area of macaques’ brains that controls vision handle both color and shape information.  

Radachynskyi/iStock/Getty Images Plus

By Laura Sanders

- More than 2 years ago

Some nerve cells in the brain are multitaskers, responding to both color and shape, a survey of over 4,000 neurons in the visual systems of macaque monkeys finds.