I gave an account of an epileptic girl who used to write with the left hand, in reverse order, and with the forms of the letters reversed as well-and fluently, too-in such a way that what she wrote could only be read when placed before a mirror ….
Further investigations, ranging from epidemiological to functional imaging studies, may provide valuable insights into mirror writing. After commenting on mirrored motor and visual engrams, the possibility that the right hemisphere may play an important part is entertained, and Leonardo da Vinci's unique, habitual mirror writing proves to be of unexpected relevance. The reasons why left‐handed writing is mirrored, and the factors that tend to inhibit mirroring, are outlined. Motor pathways that may be important, the surrogate model of bimanual mirror movements and the contribution of the corpus callosum are then discussed. Concerning possible underlying processes, the implications of using the left hand when writing are considered first. Mirror writing is nearly always undertaken with the left hand, and left‐handers, and those whose languages are written leftwards, have an unusual facility for this writing. This writing is seen in healthy individuals it is also associated with various focal lesions that most commonly involve the left hemisphere, as well as with certain diffuse cerebral disorders. Mirror writing is an unusual script, in which the writing runs in the opposite direction to normal, with individual letters reversed, so that it is most easily read using a mirror.