Déjà Vu: Researchers Explain Why You Have This Feeling

These are the explanations of why you have the feeling of Déjà Vu

Déjà Vu – It is a feeling that tells you that you have already gone through the same situation in the past as what you are experiencing now.

Some believed that there is a supernatural force behind this. However, researchers have a scientific explanation of why a person feels this, based on the article from The Healthy. Experts have 5 sensible explanations why Déjà Vu happens.

deja vu
Photo courtesy of Medical News Today

#1 You fit the profile

According to an article from the New York Times, people with more stimulated imaginations tend to experience this most. This situation happens almost 70 percent of the population. However, those who travel a lot and have college and advanced degrees are more prone. Usually, it starts during adulthood and eventually goes away as a person ages. People who are more stressed and tired also experience this more often.

#2 There’s a blip in your brain

An article from Psychology Today stated: “Researchers postulate that the information we take in from our surroundings may ‘leak out’ and incorrectly shortcut its way from short- to long-term memory, bypassing typical storage transfer mechanisms.” When a person is experiencing new things, this falls to short-term memory, however, it feels like that the person is drawing upon some memory from our distant past. Researchers said that there is no need to freak out because even the healthiest person can have brain blips.

#3 You have experienced something so similar

This was explained by a study conducted to a group of people who were told to memorize a set of words. Then, researchers made them look at a computer screen with another set of words. Participants said that certain new words they saw on the computer screen also belonged to the group of words they memorize. “The experiment proves just how little it takes for the brain to log a memory as a past experience. If an imperceptible word on a screen could pass as “familiar,” then you can just imagine how all the experiences you’ve actually had could feel,” the article stated.

#4 Your senses have filled in for your brain’s blank spots

Some researchers believe deja vu could be caused by a mix-up between sensory input and memory recalling output as the brain is constantly working to make sense of the world—often using very little input. For example, the scent of a perfume could trick your brain that the whole experience or scenario is so familiar that you would think it already happened.

#5 You dream up future scenarios

Dr. Kathleen McDermott, a memory researcher at Washington University said, “It’s well known that even if you imagine something now that may not have happened in the past, it can create a feeling of familiarity if it does happen later on.” Sometimes, you would imagine what vacation would you have or the scenario in a future activity and with these you are familiarizing yourself with a plethora of moments.

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