The mechanisms by which sensory representations are transformed to enable perception and decision making are unknown. Rossi-Pool et al. recorded from neurons in the cortex of monkeys performing a task that required them to decide whether pairs of vibrotactile stimulus patterns were the same or different. Neurons in somatosensory cortex were shown to code the temporal patterns presented but not to reflect the decisions made, whereas dorsal premotor cortex neurons coded the stimulus within abstract categories in a manner that predicted choice.