Looking with one's mind's eye

On the basis of clinical cases reported in the literature, an attempt is made to show that conscious mental representations of written words have a left-right dimension similar to their counterparts in the physical world. They may, therefore, be affected by unilateral neglect in much the same way as words on a written or printed page. Usually, real words and their representations run in the same direction. However, in some cases, they appear to run in opposite directions and this may result in the production of mirror writing.