What is Déjà Vu and What Causes It?

Image by khaled Aljaber from Pixabay

Just imagine, you are having a normal day, then suddenly your computer starts to have problems. You swear so pissed off. And in that instant, you feel that this has happened before. Like a vague dream. You even feel like you can predict everything that will happen. From what you do, rich in the words you speak to the details of the environment. If all of this sounds unfamiliar, it means that you have experienced a déjà vu event.

What exactly is déjà vu? Is déjà vu the super power to predict the future? Or is there a scientific explanation behind this mystical event? To answer all these questions, let's take a look at my humble writing.

The term déjà vu comes from French which means it has been seen. Déjà vu describes a phenomenon when a person feels that he has experienced an event that is happening. Although this event is a new experience, like visiting a city that has never been visited before.

Apart from déjà vu, there are several phenomena that are similar to it. For example, déjà rêvé when the current event feels like it has been seen before in a dream. Jamais vu, That is, when something you have to know sounds familiar. And Capgras Syndrome is when you feel that the people you need to know, such as your parents, have been replaced by impersonators.

But this time I will only discuss about déjà vu. Although déjà vu may seem mystical, the reality behind déjà vu is not as fantastic or unique as you think. About 60% - 80% of people have experienced déjà vu. How déjà vu occurs is a neurological phenomenon that has several explanations.

The first explanation is that déjà vu occurs when the brain discovers an event is happening with an event that ALREADY happened. However, you can't fully remember past events, so it looks like you are remembering something that has never happened. For example, if the layout of a room that you have never visited before is similar to the layout of the room in your own home.

The second explanation is that déjà vu occurs when we are out of focus while paying attention to something. Suppose you are climbing and catch a glimpse of a mountain peak in front of you. Even if you don't pay much attention to it, your brain receives emergency data and starts building memories. When you look up at the top of the mountain again, you will feel that this is the first time you have seen it, even though your brain has saved the memory beforehand. So when you experience déjà vu, should you be worried? It depends.

For some people, their déjà vu can occur as a result of temporal lobe epilepsy and for those with such epilepsy, déjà vu is often followed by seizures. However, for most people, the occurrence of déjà vu is likely the result of stress or fatigue. This is why déjà vu often occurs from adolescence to adulthood.

While it is interesting to imagine that a phenomenon like déjà vu is a sign that something mystical is happening to you, the reality is that our brains, like computers, will occasionally get distracted. In the case of déjà vu, this distraction is of minor concern and need not be of concern.

That's all for my simple writing this time. Have you ever experienced déjà vu? Or maybe some other strange phenomenon related to memory? Share your experience if you want.