Experts mystified at girl, 14, who can recite words backwards within seconds

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:03 AM on 4th March 2012

Dailymail.

A 14-year-old who can recite any word backwards within seconds has got brain experts scratching their heads.

Alyssa Kramer, from Poteau, Oklahoma, became an internet hit after her friends posted a video to YouTube of her strange talent.

The footage showed Alyssa’s friends throwing a range of words at her – from ‘air conditioning’ to ‘Lamborghini’ – which she then recites back.

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Alyssa, who now has her own website alyssatalkingback.com, told CBS3 that it is a skill she has had since she was young.

‘Whenever I learned how to read, I just started doing it. I have a photographic memory, and whenever someone tells me a word, I can see it in my head.

‘And if I want to spell it backwards then, it can flip and I’ll read it that way,’ she said.

But scientists speaking to the news channel said they do not know exactly what has allowed Alyssa to master the trick.

‘I’m sure it’s quite uncommon,’ said Dr. William Schetman with Lankenau Medical Center.

‘Different areas of your brain serve different purposes, and in this very distinct area that’s taking in language, that she has this ability again to sort of interpret language on a two way street.’

Shetman said it is probably not a memory function, which would mean the structure of her brain is different.

Instead, experts believe Alyssa’s ability is a special kind of mental and visual process – but they do not know exactly what and there is no name for it.

And the teen is not alone, with CBS 3 reporter Nicole Brewer revealing she also has the power.

‘I could do just as well,’ Brewer said. ‘It’s definitely weird; my family always got a kick out of it. They were always giving me words. It’s a little stupid human trick.’

Alyssa’s videos – which have garnered thousands of views on YouTube – show her reciting words, names and phrases backwards, such as ‘I want to hold your hand’ and ‘David Letterman’, with ease.

CBS 3 also asked her to turn words around, including ‘I love Philadelphia’ and ‘City of Brotherly Love’, which she mastered within seconds.

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