Reading time: 5 minutes
“I can’t explain it, but I’ve lived this moment before.” Does it feel relatable to you? According to the scientific community, déjà vu is a common experience that nearly every human being experiences at least once in their lifetime. The word déjà vu actually originates from French, where it means “already seen.” Although it is widely recognized, its exact neural and psychological mechanisms remain unclear, which has led many scientists and researchers to speculate about its origins and has opened the door to release different theories for the feeling of familiarity in the presence.
Theories Behind Déjà Vu
Based on research conducted by cognitive psychologist Alan S. Brown, who studied déjà vu, the experience cannot be attributed to a single cause. Instead, he argued that it should be understood through multiple psychological processes. Brown explained that researchers have interpreted the phenomenon from various psychological perspectives, each emphasizing a distinct cognitive process. To organize these interpretations, he categorized them into three main theoretical perspectives: memory-based theories, attention-based theories, and cognitive-processing theories.
Memory- Based Theories: When The Present Echoes The Past
According to memory-based theories, déjà vu occurs when a current situation subconsciously resembles a past experience stored in long-term memory. Although the individual cannot consciously recall the original memory, certain features such as the emotional tone, atmosphere, or spatial layout may unconsciously trigger a sense of familiarity. This effect is linked to implicit memory, which operates outside of conscious awareness and can influence perception without explicit recollection. As a result, the person may feel that the moment is familiar without knowing why, which often leads to the classic sensation of “I know this, but I don’t know where it’s from.”
Attention-Based Theories: A Mental Double Take
On the other hand, attention-based theories argue that déjà vu may be caused by a brief glitch in sensory processing. According to this view, a scene is first perceived unconsciously with minimal attention, and then registered more clearly a moment later. When the second perception is fully processed, it may be misinterpreted as something previously experienced rather than as a continuation of the present moment, since the initial impression was too weak to be consciously acknowledged. This misinterpretation can create the illusion that the event has happened before. For instance, imagine someone entering a room for the first time while distracted by their phone. In that moment, their brain performs a brief subconscious scan. When they look up and take in the environment without distraction, a sense of familiarity may arise, as if they have been there before. However, this familiarity does not originate from a past experience; rather, it arises from unconscious processing that occurred only moments earlier.
Cognitive-Processing Theories: When The Brain Confuses Itself
Cognitive processing theories propose that déjà vu may occur due to a temporary disconnect between brain areas responsible for recognizing familiarity and verifying memory. The temporal lobe, which is involved in generating sensations of familiarity, may trigger the feeling of “this feels known.” On the other hand, the frontal lobe plays a crucial role in evaluating and confirming whether that familiarity corresponds to an actual memory. When familiarity is signaled by the temporal area but the frontal lobe cannot verify a matching memory, a brief conflict arises between what is felt and what is known. This cognitive mismatch is believed to give rise to the experience of déjà vu.
Why Déjà Vu Matters?
Déjà vu is a psychological phenomenon that has been debated for many years. In modern psychology, many researchers view it as a significant representation of the mind’s ongoing attempt to connect experiences and assign emotional significance to the present moment. From this perspective, déjà vu plays a crucial role in understanding how the brain searches for patterns and compares new situations with internal representations. On the other hand, déjà vu is often brief and quickly dismissed as insignificant. From a historical psychoanalytic perspective, Sigmund Freud did not consider it a memory of an actual past event. Instead, he saw déjà vu as a subtle return of an unconscious, repressed memory or desire that resurfaces as psychological content disguised in the present moment. His interpretation suggests that the feeling of familiarity experienced during déjà vu may stem from hidden desires or emotional residues stored in the unconscious.
Conclusion
To conclude, déjà vu is widely acknowledged as a meaningful psychological phenomenon, as it reveals the brain’s ability to distinguish between familiarity and actual memory, much like the mind attempting to assemble scattered elements into a meaningful whole. In doing so, it underscores the intricate way in which our cognitive system evaluates and questions its interpretation of reality. As research has shown, this experience is not a mental deficiency, but rather considered a temporary misalignment in our internal cognitive processes, prompting us to pause and reassess what we perceive as familiar and real. The experience might feel like it rings a bell, or perhaps it is simply the mind that makes us want to hear that bell.
Selin Palti
Bibliography
Bernstein, D. M., & Loftus, E. F. (2014). The déjà vu experience: Remembrance of things past. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 1(2), 133–145. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/20910707_The_deja_vu_experience_Remembrance_of_things_past
Brown, A. S. (2004). The déjà vu experience: Essays in cognitive psychology. Psychology Press.
Cleary, A. M., & Bernard, S. (2023). Déjà vu and memory processes. Consciousness and Cognition. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763423004360
Freud, S. (1901). The psychopathology of everyday life.
O’Connor, A. R., & Moulin, C. J. A. (2013). Recognition without identification, erroneous familiarity, and déjà vu. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 512. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3842028/
A.P.E. 
Lascia un commento