Study: Brain Instantly Rotates Reflected Words Seen in Mirror, Then Stops
Posted on March 31, 2011
A team of scientists from the Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) says their study shows, for the first time, that the human brain can mentally rotate words seen in a mirror around and understand them automatically and unconsciously, at least for a few instants. Then the brain apparently remembers it should not process words this way and stops.
Jon Andoni Dunabeitia, lead author of the study, says, "At a very early processing stage, between 150 and 250 milliseconds, the visual system completely rotates the words reflected in the mirror and recognises them, although the brain then immediately detects that this is not the correct order and 'remembers' that it should not process them in this way."
In the study, published in the journal NeuroImage, researchers used electrodes to monitor the brain activity of 27 participants while carrying out two experiments in front of a computer screen. In the first case participants were shown words with some of the letters and other information rotated for 50 milliseconds (an imperceptible flash, which is processed by the brain). In the second case the entire word in the mirror was rotated (for example HTUOM instead of MOUTH). The researchers say the results of the encephalogram showed in both cases that, at between 150 and 250 milliseconds, the brain's response upon seeing the words as reflected in the mirror was the same as when they are read normally.
The researchers hope the research can lead to a better understanding of dyslexia.
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