imagesc() creates an object of type image on an axis. To change the
background color, change the color of the axis that is the parent of the
image. For example,
set(gca,'Color','white')
However, if I recall correctly, the default axis color is already white,
so perhaps you mean something completely different by "background
color". Perhaps you are talking about a feature of the image, rather
than the background the image is placed against. If that is the case,
then if the image is indexed, you could change the colormap; however, if
the image is true-color (has R, G, B per point) then you would have to
change the colors in the image itself.