diff --git a/src/gather.jl b/src/gather.jl
index 3d8a8949d..cc47a607d 100644
--- a/src/gather.jl
+++ b/src/gather.jl
@@ -20,15 +20,28 @@ or multiple `dst` columns.
 
 See [`gather`](@ref) for an allocating version.
 """
-function gather!(dst::AbstractArray, src::AbstractArray, idx::AbstractArray)
-    dims = scatter_dims(src, dst, idx)
-    colons = ntuple(i -> Colon(), dims)
+# function gather!(dst::AbstractArray, src::AbstractArray, idx::AbstractArray)
+#     dims = scatter_dims(src, dst, idx)
+#     colons = ntuple(i -> Colon(), dims)
+#     for k in CartesianIndices(idx)
+#         _view(dst, colons, k) .= _view(src, colons, idx[k])
+#     end
+#     return dst
+# end
+
+"""
+dst[:, ... , k, :,...] .= src[:, ... , idx[k]..., :,...]
+"""
+function gather!(dst::AbstractArray, src::AbstractArray, idx::AbstractArray; dims = nothing)
+    nbefore, nafter = scatter_dims(src, dst, idx, dims)
+    colbefore = ntuple(i -> Colon(), nbefore)
+    colafter = ntuple(i -> Colon(), nafter)
     for k in CartesianIndices(idx)
-        _view(dst, colons, k) .= _view(src, colons, idx[k])
+        _view(dst, colbefore, k, colafter) .= _view(src, colbefore, idx[k], colafter)
     end
-    return dst
 end
 
+
 """
     NNlib.gather(src, idx) -> dst
 
diff --git a/src/scatter.jl b/src/scatter.jl
index 88bb42c65..3fadf8f3f 100644
--- a/src/scatter.jl
+++ b/src/scatter.jl
@@ -17,25 +17,41 @@ typelength(::Type{CartesianIndex{M}}) where M = M
 Performs dimensional consistency checks and return the 
 dimensionality of the scattered objects.
 """
+
 function scatter_dims(X::AbstractArray{Tx,Nx}, 
                      Y::AbstractArray{Ty,Ny},
-                     idx::AbstractArray{Tidx,Nidx}) where {Tx,Ty,Tidx,Nx,Ny,Nidx}
-    M = typelength(Tidx)
-    dims = scatter_dims(Nx, Ny, M, Nidx)
-    size(X)[1:dims] == size(Y)[1:dims] || throw(ArgumentError("Incompatible input shapes."))
-    size(Y)[dims+1:end] == size(idx) || throw(ArgumentError("Incompatible input shapes."))
-    return dims
+                     idx::AbstractArray{Tidx,Nidx},
+                     dims::Union{Nothing, Integer} = nothing) where {Tx,Ty,Tidx,Nx,Ny,Nidx}
+    nsrcin = typelength(Tidx)
+    ndstin = Nidx
+    nbefore, nafter = scatter_dims(Nx, Ny, nsrcin, ndstin, dims)
+    size(Y)[1:nbefore] == size(X)[1:nbefore] || throw(ArgumentError("Incompatible input shapes."))
+    size(Y)[nbefore+1:nbefore+ndstin] == size(idx) || throw(ArgumentError("Incompatible input shapes."))
+    size(Y)[nbefore+ndstin+1:end] == size(X)[nbefore+nsrcin+1:end] || throw(ArgumentError("Incompatible input shapes."))
+    return nbefore, nafter
 end
 
-function scatter_dims(Nx, Ny, M, Nidx)
-    @assert Nx - M == Ny - Nidx "Incompatible input shapes of (dst, src, idx) = ($Nx, $Ny, $Nidx)."
-    dims = Nx - M
-    dims < 0 && throw(ArgumentError("dims must be non-negative but got dims=$dims."))
-    return dims
+function scatter_dims(Nx, Ny, nsrcin, ndstin, dims = nothing)
+    @assert Nx - nsrcin == Ny - ndstin "Incompatible input shapes of (dst, src, idx, Tidx) = ($Nx, $Ny, $ndstin, $nsrcin)."
+    
+    if dims === nothing
+        nbefore = Nx - nsrcin
+        nbefore < 0 && throw(ArgumentError("nbefore must be non-negative but got $nbefore."))
+        nafter = 0
+        return nbefore, nafter
+    else
+        nbefore = dims - 1
+        nafter = Ny - ndstin - nbefore
+        nbefore < 0 && throw(ArgumentError("nbefore must be non-negative but got $nbefore."))
+        nafter < 0 && throw(ArgumentError("nafter must be non-negative but got $nafter."))
+        return nbefore, nafter
+    end
 end
 
 _view(X, colons, k) = view(X, colons..., k...)
 _view(X, colons, k::Union{Integer, CartesianIndex}) = view(X, colons..., k)
+_view(X, colbefore, k, colafter) = view(X, colbefore..., k..., colafter...)
+_view(X, colbefore, k::Union{Integer, CartesianIndex}, colafter) = view(X, colbefore..., k, colafter...)
 
 """
     NNlib.scatter!(op, dst, src, idx)
@@ -78,7 +94,7 @@ function scatter!(op::OP, dst::AbstractArray, src::AbstractArray, idx::AbstractA
         src_v = _view(src, colons, k)
         dst_v .= (op).(dst_v, src_v)
     end
-    dst
+    return dst
 end
 
 function scatter!(op::typeof(mean), dst::AbstractArray, src::AbstractArray, idx::AbstractArray)
diff --git a/test/gather.jl b/test/gather.jl
index eb6b8f6f9..88cf94b49 100644
--- a/test/gather.jl
+++ b/test/gather.jl
@@ -149,3 +149,18 @@ end
     gradtest(xs -> gather!(dst, xs, index), src)
     gradtest(xs -> gather(xs, index), src)
 end
+
+using NNlib: gather!, gather
+
+@testset "gather! dims" begin
+
+        src = reshape([1:15;], 3, 5)
+        index = [1, 3, 2, 2]
+        dst = zeros(Int, 4, 5)
+        gather!(dst, src, index, dims=1)
+
+        @test dst ==   [1  4  7  10  13
+                        3  6  9  12  15
+                        2  5  8  11  14
+                        2  5  8  11  14]
+end