The visual analysis of three-dimensional (3D) shape relies on a network of cortical areas in the primate ventral (Janssen et al., 2000) and dorsal (Srivastava et al., 2009) visual stream. Previous studies have emphasized that distinct neural representations of disparity-defined 3D shape exist in the inferior temporal cortex (ITC), the posterior parietal cortex (area AIP) and even in the premotor cortex (area F5a). Here I will review a series of studies that relate the neural selectivity in these cortical areas to perception and action. Using a combination of single-cell recordings, fMRI, electrical microstimulation and reversible inactivation in behaving macaque monkeys (Maccaca mulatta), I will argue that the extensive processing of 3D shape subserves different behavioral goals. Specifically, neural activity in ITC correlates with perceptual choice (Verhoef et al., 2010), and microstimulation in ITC predictably alters the categorization of convex and concave 3D shapes and accelerates the time to decision (Verhoef et al., 2012). In contrast, 3D-shape selective neurons in the parietal (AIP) and premotor cortex (F5a) are also active during grasping of 3D objects (Theys et al., 2012; Theys et al., 2013), and reversible inactivation of clusters of 3D-shape selective neurons in AIP produces a strong grasping deficit but no perceptual deficit. Furthermore microstimulation of AIP produces weak effects on 3D-shape categorization and generally prolongs the decision time (Verhoef et al., in preparation). Finally, microstimulation of 3D-shape selective AIP neurons during fMRI reveals the functional connectivity of these neurons: consistent with the known anatomical connectivity, AIP microstimulation selectively activates F5a in the ventral premotor cortex and area CIP in the posterior Intraparietal sulcus. Thus a combination of research techniques and behavioral tasks can clarify how 3D shape processing is related to both perception and action.