Many claim that at least once in their life they have experienced an unusual feeling that they have already seen or experienced something. What are the causes of the phenomenon "already seen" and why does it occur? There are numerous theories about the phenomenon of deja vu, from the fact that it is a long-suppressed memory, genetic memory, all the way to reincarnation or some disorder…
One of the researchers dealing with this topic, Alan S. Brown, author of The Deja Vu Experience, offers 30 different explanations for this phenomenon (and none involve reincarnation or genetic memory).
The phenomenon of "already seen" (deja vu) also occurs in people who do not have any neuropsychiatric disorder or psychological problem, therefore also in completely healthy individuals and is common in human experience. In neurology, it is known that in some forms of epilepsy (so-called partial temporal seizures) such experiences often occur.
There are descriptions of cases in medicine that are associated with the existence of some of the anxiety disorders such as specific phobias or obsessive-compulsive disorder, depersonalization syndrome or some similar dissociative anxiety, but also psychotic disorders. (Dissociative disorders imply some kind of separation, dissociation - self from self-experience, motor skills from consciousness or any other "separation" of phenomena that otherwise go together).
Theories that explain why this phenomenon occurs are based on a variety of research - some of which deal with observing and describing the experiences of people who have these phenomena more often, and some study them by causing this phenomenon, or the closest thing that can be achieved - in the laboratory. .
This detailed research first sets out the theory of "separate attention" - as when we do two things at the same time, so we can't pay good attention to both; let's say our phone rings and we go to another room for something. Until we get to the other room, we can't remember what we went for, because our attention was "distracted" to the other side, so the phone conversation seems to be the first, not the second in the order of events - as if we "confuse" the order of events . This theory explains that a similar thing happens in deja vu, ie the brain "confuses" that it saw something earlier that was actually later.
Similarly, the theory that deja vu is a break in the recognition of memory, where the feeling of arousal of memory "separates" from the very arousal of memory, and this is called the hypothesis of "disparate familiarity (familiarity) of memory".
The part of the brain that is most active in remembering new facts is called the hippocampus. The hippocampus is central to declarative (explicit) memory and the ability to remember. He is also in charge of linking the time sequence remembered, as well as assessing similarities. The researcher's assumption was that because of this, as well as because the assumption, which was confirmed in laboratory research, that the deja vu phenomenon can most easily be caused "by similarity" - ie if we show respondents some scenes that have the same elements they repeat, but so that they are not very obviously recognizable.
Also, since there are structures in the vicinity of the hippocampus that are responsible for feeling and reacting to anxiety (septo-hippocampal system), this could explain why these phenomena occur more often and more intensely in people with some anxiety disorders.
However, it turned out that when the researchers monitored brain activity, the part of the brain that was most active during the deja vu phenomenon was the frontal cortex (the frontal part of the cerebral cortex). This part of the cerebral cortex is most active when decisions are made, which indicates that some decision-making occurs during the phenomenon; choice between some options - which led the researchers to say that during the phenomenon of deja vu, the brain is actually dealing with resolving a conflict. The assumption is that the conflict in question here is a conflict between the accuracy and errors of the stored data. That is, that this phenomenon is actually an attempt by the brain to compare data and correct mistakes in memory.
And finally, as a conclusion, such pathophysiological dysfunctions of the brain, ie neurobiological causes such as epilepsy can cause this phenomenon; likewise psychological disorders, stress, fatigue, or exhaustion for any reason can be the triggers of this phenomenon.
We explain different manifestations by perceiving (perceiving) sensory experiences with the help of various senses available to us, and memories are usually a combination of various sensory impressions, mixed with their cognitive and emotional processing, attributing the meaning and significance of an experience in accordance with a complete set information and previous experiences that the person already has. Therefore, memory is very complex.
In addition, when we talk about only one specific memory, research has shown that every time we "reach" for the memory of it, by the same process, we change that memory a little bit each time. So when we talk, for example, about a story we read yesterday, and if we talk about it in a few days, months, years and finally in a few decades, that memory will sound completely different from the freshest one.
If we take into account only these two data, then it is clear that this phenomenon can have a lot of variations on the topic due to multiple sensory, cognitive - emotional, experiential processing and memory changes. We can have almost unlimited combinations when talking about possible phenomena of this kind.
According to research, deja vu occurs more often in younger people than in older people, although it has also been described in very old people. This is related to the theory of deja vu as a "checker" of memory - it is possible that with aging our checking system works less and less, or that we are less able to notice errors in memory, although proven with age, we have much more than when we are young. In addition, younger people are more open to unusual experiences than older ones. The phenomenon occurs equally in men and women.
It is more common with people who have traveled a lot who have higher incomes and whose political and social views are more liberal. This is explained by the fact that people who travel more are more likely to encounter new scenes that may remind them of something seen earlier. People with more liberal views will be more open to unusual experiences, as well as to explore them.
In a psychological sense, it is much easier to explain the phenomenon of "recognizing" a person than places and situations, although they may have some common denominators. The phenomenon of "sympathy" and "antipathy" function on similar principles, except that when someone is sympathetic to us at first sight, or when we talk about the phenomenon of "falling in love at first sight", it is actually a very quick and unconscious recognition.
What we recognize is a similarity that we "read" within a few seconds or minutes based on nonverbal signals. That is, based on body posture, movement, tone of voice, facial expressions - we recognize a similar set and range of feelings that go with a similar set and range of thoughts and behaviors, as in patterns known to us from our family. Or from our imagined ideal notion of a person who is a good partner or friend, collaborator, etc. for us. And that is the explanation for the “chemistry” that happens at first glance. But when that happens, we are not at all aware that we recognize the similarity.
With the phenomenon of deja vu, we are aware of the similarity, but we do not know where and when we have seen it before. When we talk about similar situations, it can often be the case if we examine the situation we found ourselves in and have the idea that we have never been in a similar one, it will often happen that when we contextualize the situation, ie when a person understands what meaning he attaches to will recognize in meaning that she was already in a situation to which she ascribed the same or similar meaning, although the situation itself may have been very different from the present one.
In psychology, the phenomenon of "projection" and "catapulting into the past" is known when we "glue" some people and situations that we have already met and experienced through people and situations in the present and experience them very similarly to people and situations from our past. Again, in this case we do not have the experience that we have been through this before or have been in such a situation until we analyze it.
Some researchers state that deja vu occurs more often in people who are able to remember and describe their dreams better than other people, and occasionally clients we work with describe that they seem to have had predictive dreams in which some have "seen" the landscape in which they later found themselves in reality and which