Figure 1.

Schematic of cross-item multivoxel pattern analysis. The SVM classifier was trained to discriminate the pantomime of using, for example, a screwdriver from the pantomime of using a pair of scissors. The (trained) classifier was then tested using a new pair of objects that match in their manner of manipulation (in this case, corkscrew, and pliers). If the labels given by the classifier match the true labels (significantly better than chance, which is 50%) then the classifier successfully discriminates the actions, over and above the specific objects. The same procedure was used to decode object function over and above the specific objects themselves.