London, Sept 25: Words need not be in any order as long as the first and last letters are in place. An Internet study suggests that the brain can make sense of written words even when the letters are jumbled. This could challenge current academic thinking about the way human beings process language.
The study says: "Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosnt mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe." Dr Rosaleen McCarthy, a neuro-psychology lecturer from Kings College, explained that human beings were able to understand jumbled up words because they primarily read for meaning. "If you can anticipate what the next word in a sentence could be, you will not necessarily notice if some of the letters in that word are out of place."