{
  "id": 9031681,
  "title": "Human see, human do? Viewing tool pictures evokes tool-use action information in hand-selective occipitotemporal cortex",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/human-see-human-do-viewing-tool-pictures-evokes-tool-use-action",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-21T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.15.751758v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Human beings possess the ability to understand the purpose of tools and the actions they facilitate. Neuroimaging research has shown that specific areas in the brain, such as the occipitotemporal and parietal cortices, respond uniquely when individuals view images of tools or hands. However, it is still uncertain if these responses contain detailed information about specific actions related to tool use, and whether this information is shared across different tasks, such as perception and actual tool use. To investigate this further, researchers utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and multivoxel pattern analysis. They recruited a group of 18 participants (11 of whom were female) and had them view pictures of tools while pantomiming the corresponding actions in separate trials. The tools varied in their associated actions, which were either rotation or squeezing, but they shared a common grip type. The results revealed that viewing tool pictures triggered information about the corresponding action in lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC), parietal cortex, and even somatosensory cortex. Interestingly, the hand-selective region of the LOTC demonstrated superior decoding of action information during both viewing and pantomime compared to decoding based solely on tool identity. This finding suggests that the LOTC is sensitive to the learned connections between objects and the specific actions they elicit. Nevertheless, the researchers did not observe reliable decoding of action-specific information across tasks using either restricted or whole-brain searchlight analyses. In conclusion, while there is distributed cortical information about actions related to tools during both perception and production, the researchers did not find evidence that this information is represented in a shared multivoxel format. This suggests that the neural representations of tool use may differ depending on whether the task involves viewing or actively using the tool.",
  "summary": "Amongst all the objects we encounter, tools are unique because they are tightly linked to predictable actions. Neuroimaging studies have reported selective responses in occipitotemporal and parietal cortices when viewing pictures of tools or hands. Whether these responses contain information about specific tool-use actions (e.g., rotation for keys), and whether such information shares a neural…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}