Left lateral occipito-temporal cortex encodes compatibility between hands and tools: an fMRI adaptation study

Previous work has demonstrated that a region of the extrastriate visual cortex, the left lateral occipito-temporal cortex, contains a region that is activated by both images of human hands and manual tools. The current paper examined the functional significance of this observation. A functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) adaptation paradigm was used to investigate the hypothesis that this region is selective for the functional compatibility of hands and tools. The present results suggest that this region is indeed involved in matching compatible hands postures with tools for their skilled and effective use, with significant adaptation with successive presentation of compatible hands and tools. It is proposed that this region of the extrastriate visual cortex represents a crucial node within a much wider cortical network that supports skilled tool use in humans. The present results are discussed in terms of their implication for our understanding of the organization of the visual brain.