Object segmentation–the process of parsing visual scenes–is essential for object recognition and scene understanding. We investigated how responses of neurons in macaque inferior temporal (IT) cortex contribute to object segmentation under partial occlusion. Specifically, we asked whether IT responses to occluding and occluded objects are bound together as in the visual image, or linearly separable reflecting their segmentation. We recorded the activity of 121 IT neurons while animals performed a shape discrimination task under partial occlusion. We found that for a majority (60%) of neurons responses were enhanced by partial occlusion but they were only weakly shape selective for the discriminanda at all levels of occlusion. Enhancement of IT responses in these neurons depended largely on the area of occlusion, but only minimally on the color and shape of the occluding dots. In contrast to the above group of neurons, a sizable minority responded best to the unoccluded stimulus and showed strong selectivit...