Over the rainbow: Guidelines for meaningful use of colour maps in neurophysiology

Patrick S Cooper; Sylvain Baillet; Rana El Khoury Maroun; Trevor T-J Chong

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118628

Over the rainbow: Guidelines for meaningful use of colour maps in neurophysiology

Neuroimage. 2021 Dec 15:245:118628. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118628. Epub 2021 Oct 9.

Authors

Patrick S Cooper¹, Sylvain Baillet², Rana El Khoury Maroun², Trevor T-J Chong³

Affiliations

¹ Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia; Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Québec H3A 2B4, Canada.
³ Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia; Department of Neurology, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, St Vincent's Hospital, Victoria 3065, Australia.

PMID: 34637902
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118628

Abstract

Visualization of complex data is commonplace in neurophysiology research. Here, we highlight specific perceptual issues related to the ongoing misuse of variations of the rainbow colour scheme, with a particular emphasis on time-frequency decompositions in electrophysiology as an illustrative example. We review the risks of biased interpretation of neurophysiological data in this context, and provide guidelines to improve the use of colour maps to visualise complex, multidimensional data in neurophysiology research.

Keywords: Colour schemes; EEG; MEG; Rainbow; Time-frequency; Visualization.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Color*
Data Display*
Electroencephalography*
Guidelines as Topic
Humans
Neurophysiology / methods*

Grants and funding

R01 EB026299/EB/NIBIB NIH HHS/United States