What Is Déjà Vu: Exploring Different Theories Behind It
The term ‘déjà vu’ was first introduced in the 1890s, but it remains something that has not been completely defined or understood to date. So, What Is Déjà Vu? Let us look at some interesting theories behind it.
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Every person must have experienced déjà vu at least once in their lifetime. It is the feeling of familiarity with a situation or event that is being experienced for the first time. You feel as though you have had the same experience before or feel like the event is being repeated. The most scientific and accepted definition is “any subjectively inappropriate impression of familiarity of a present experience with an undefined past.”
- Non-scientific explanations have called ‘déjà vu’ as “messages from God.”
- Some believe that déjà vu is a result of delayed neural transmission speed. There might be some disruption in the temporal lobe of the brain that usually processes sensory information and creates memories. This disruption leads us to believe that the situation is familiar, which may not be the case.
- It is also possible that the current event might be highly similar to an event experienced before, which the brain cannot consciously recall. This leads the brain to interpret the situation as a memory.
- “Déjà Visité” is a type of déjà vu where the person feels that they have visited the location before and are familiar with the place, and can easily navigate their way through it.
- Jamais Vu is a feeling opposite to déjà vu where there is a feeling of unfamiliarity and literally means “never seen”. This could be a simple experience, such as you walk into your own room and feeling like you have never been there before arises.
- Underlying pathology, such as abuse or withdrawal from drugs to schizophrenia, can be a possible explanation as well. The use of alcohol has been reported to have a postive relation with the feeling of déjà vu.
- If there is a situation where new information is being encoded while old information is being retrieved- it could lead us to feel that the situation is familiar.
Though a lot of cognitive, neurological, and pseudo-scientific explanations do exist for this extremely common phenomenon, there is no proper explanation yet. But, theories are still being discussed and refuted and research is still ongoing on this interesting phenomenon.
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