How we categorise colour is based on biology, not culture, study suggests

Different languages group colours differently, suggesting categories are cultural, but study into how babies respond to colour indicates a biological root

Categories of colour are not born of language but are rooted in biology, according to research that shows babies divide colours up into red, blue, green, yellow and purple.

Humans see colour as a result of cells in the eyes known as cones, which are sensitive to either long, short or medium wavelengths of light. The way in which the brain interprets combinations of signals from these cells allows us to see a whole spectrum of colour.