Most of us, at some point in our life, have experienced the sensation of recognizing a new experience as if we had already lived it before, a déjà vu (already seen in French). ‘This has already happened to me’, ‘I have experienced this before’ … It is a rather strange circumstance, but what exactly is a déjá vu?
Despite the fact that almost two-thirds of the population claims to have experienced déjá vu, it is a difficult phenomenon to pin down and there are several theories about it , ranging between the fields of neuroscience and psychology. None of them contain all the answers, but each one offers us a unique opportunity to revel in the complicated experience of consciousness.
According to neuroscience, the déjà vu t ienen place when the frontal regions of the brain are examining our memories in search of an error in memory. The brain, when trying to resolve the conflict between the sensation of remembering something and recognizing that we have not yet experienced it, attributes it to an erroneous memory signal.
Another theory states that this ‘ flashback ‘ may be the product of the scene that we live in that moment is very similar to another moment that we remember , although vaguely – we probably do not pay much attention – and that is why we have that feeling of’ having lived this previously ‘.
As we say, none of the proposed theories has been proven and, in reality, all could have some or no truth on the matter. Although the temporal lobes appear to be involved, we haven’t really made much progress in understanding why this omnipresent and disturbing phenomenon occurs.
For now, it remains one of the most fascinating unsolved mysteries in human biology.
Curiosities of déjà vu
Déjà vu appears more frequently in young people, becoming less and less common as we age.
Men and women alike experience this phenomenon with similar frequency.
According to some studies, déjà vu is more common among people from the highest socioeconomic groups and with a higher level of education.
People who travel often are more likely to experience déjà vu.
Studies have shown that déjà vu is more common in situations of stress, fatigue, or a combination of both.
Certain drugs can increase the likelihood of déjà vu . This was determined by a 2001 study in which a healthy 39-year-old man experienced recurrent déjà vu when taking amantadine and phenylpropanolamine to treat the flu.
