Already Seen; Deja Vu
By: Paarth Shah
Interested?
I chose this topic mostly because when I was little I had many Deja Vu which surprised me when it happened. For me Deja Vu came randomly and only happened for a few seconds. I knew when it was happening when I had a overwhelming sense of familiarity. Ever since then I wanted to know what was happening, and with this research I can understand more of what is happening. This can also help others by giving them a more clear explanation of the phenomenon.
Explanation of Deja Vu
Say you went to Washington D.C. for the first time. You are taking pictures of the White House, and then it hits you, a sense of familiarity like you have been at that exact place again.
The Brain
What's going on, Parts of the brain, and parts of the brain that are failing,
Conscious recollection depends on the two parts of the brain, the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. When these two get out of sync, we experience Deja Vu which is the feeling of a situation that is familiar even though it has never happened.
Theories
The Hologram Theory; a psychiatrist named Hermon Sno who thought Deja Vu are like Holograms. Meaning that you can recreate the experience again, he says Deja Vu happens when some detail in the environment is similar to some remnant of a memory.
Research and Psychologist
Experiments
Anne M. Clearly ran an experiment on what features or elements could trigger feelings of familiarity. She had people study a random list of words. During a test some words resembled earlier words, although only in sound, but some of the participants reported a sense of familiarity
Interesting stuff
More than one Deja Vu?
Other things that relate to Deja Vu is Presque Vu which means almost seen, it is similar to having something on the tip of your tongue. Another one that is related to Deja Vu is Jamais Vu which is the opposite of Deja Vu. For example you go somewhere and you don't recognize the situation despite knowing that you have been there before.