Dj vu Is a Neurological Phenomenon

Scientists Claim
January 13, 2017 by PHILIP PERRY BIGTHINK.COM

A young woman experiencing dj vu.

I. Have you ever experienced dj vu? If so, you are among the 60-70% of the population
who has. The majority of those who report dj vu are between the ages 15 and 25. Im a
complete rationalist who believes that every phenomenon, no matter how strange or
supernatural it appears, has a scientific reason behind it. Even so, Ive met several people
and walked into a few situations where, though I had never been there before or met the
person before, I suddenly felt awash in a bizarre familiarity. This transcendental sensation
can shake beliefs such as mine right to their very core.

II. But I wasnt ready to denounce science yet. And Im glad. Because it turns out, there is
a rational explanation. Though some radical notions have in the past been connected to this
strange feeling, such as dj vu being a momentarily aligning with a past life or another
you in a parallel universe, or as my editor suggestsa glitch in the matrix, scientists now
believe it has a neurological basis.
III. Unfortunately, the feeling is here one minute and gone the next, making it difficult to
study. Even so, there are quite a few theories on what causes it. One traditional hypothesis,
posited by psychiatrists, is mismatched brain signals. For a second it feels as though we are
transported to a moment in the past and we mistake it for the present. This may be why its
been associated with the idea of reincarnation.

IV. Another theory is that dj vu is our brain trying to piece together a situation on limited
information. A third states that it is a misfiring in the parts of the brain that recall memory
and decipher sensory input. Sensory information, rather than taking the proper channels,
leaks out of the short-term memory and into the long-term one. In this way, current
experiences seem to be connected to the past. Some studies even suggest that familiar
geometric shapes give us a sense of knowing something about a place that is, in reality,
totally unfamiliar to us.

Instead of a glitch in the matrix, dj vu may just be a glitch in our memory.

V. Since we are completely aware of everything thats going on when we experience dj

vu, this suggests that every part of the brain need not participate for the sensation to take
place. Psychologist Anne M. Cleary at Colorado State University, in a study in 2008, found
that dj vu followed patterns we associate with memory, specifically recognition memory.
This is the kind that gets us to understand that we are confronting something that weve
seen or experienced before. If youve ever recognized a landmark, a friend from across the
room, or a song on the stereo, youve experienced recognition memory.

VI. Familiarity-based recognition is associated with it. Here, we have that feeling of
familiarity, but we cant quite place where weve seen this person, place, or thing. For
instance, you recognize someone across the street, but cant remember their name or where
you know them from. Prof. Cleary conducted several studies which found that dj vu is a
form of familiarity-based recognition. Her work suggests that our memory stores items in
fragments. When there is a certain overlap between old and new experiences, we have
strong feelings about the connection, which we interpret as dj vu.

VII. Recent studies looking at epileptic patients made impressive breakthroughs in our
understanding of the phenomenon. Epileptics with certain intractable conditions require
electrodes to be placed inside their brains in order to locate the source of their seizures.
During this procedure, some neurologists have had patients experience dj vu. They soon
discovered that the phenomenon takes place in the medial temporal lobe, which is
responsible for memory. The electrodes are usually placed within the rhinal cortexthe
most important piece of which is the hippocampus, the structure responsible for long-term
memory formation. French scientists have found that firing current into this cortex can
trigger an episode of dj vu.

Location of the amygdala and the hippocampus. By OpenStax College [CC BY 3.0], Wikimedia
Commons.
VIII. The French study, published in the journal Clinical Neurophysiology, measured EEG
wave patterns from patients with epilepsy who experienced dj vu through electrical
stimulation. The areas of the brain they examined included the amygdala, which is
responsible for emotion and the hippocampus. Researchers found that electrical patterns,
emanating from rhinal cortices and the amygdala or the hippocampus, caused dj vu to
occur. These neuroscientists believe that some sort of electrical phenomenon in the medial
temporal lobe activates the memory in such a way that it causes dj vu to occur.

IX. Stranger still, scientists in the UK have actually found patients who experience
chronic dj vu. In this case, experts identified four senior citizens who encounter the
feeling on a consistent basis. What is the impact of such a phenomenon? It made them feel
as if they were clairvoyant. All four refused to go to the doctor, believing they already knew
what the physician would say, and avoided watching the news, thinking they already knew
the outcome. Thats because each time they took part in either activity that was the result
they came to.

X. Each individual experienced some type of problem with the temporal lobe of their brain.
The circuits in that area were in a sense stuck in the on position. It just goes to show that
when we dont know the reason for a phenomenon or sensation, our mind assigns a
meaning to it. But that isnt necessarily the correct one. And even though knowing the
neurological basis of dj vu may evaporate the supernatural awe surrounding it,
understanding the phenomenon better puts a scientific mind, like mine, at ease.

Taken from: http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/deja-vu-is-a-neurological-phenomenon-scientists-claim