What is deja vu and why does it happen? How is the deja vu effect explained? What is the deja vu effect?

Helpful Hints 06.09.2018
Helpful Hints

Science and technology

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Psychics about deja vu say that this incredible phenomenon is a kind of state of the human psyche, in which the person begins to realize and feel that what is happening to him or around him is very familiar to his consciousness. A person gets the impression that once he was already in such an environment and experienced all this. And there is no way to connect it..

In fact, it's much more likely that you have dejava when you're tired, young, drunk, or on certain drugs. All this suggests that there is a physical cause of deja vu. So there are four explanations: the explanation of the spiritual science fiction, the old idea of ​​optical delay, and two current competing theories. Is our environment or our brain causing Dejava? We're still not entirely sure.

memory failure

Recorded by Hannah Drimalla. The eye is a sensory organ for the perception of light stimuli - from electromagnetic radiation of a certain frequency range. Human visible light is in the range of 380 to 780 nanometers. Attention serves us as a tool for awareness of internal and external stimuli. This is achieved by concentrating our mental resources on a limited amount of the contents of consciousness. While some stimuli automatically grab our attention, we can choose others in a controlled way.

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Psychics about deja vu they say that this incredible phenomenon is a certain state of the human psyche, in which the person begins to realize and feel that what is happening to him or around him is very familiar to his consciousness. A person develops impression that once he had already been in such an environment and experienced all this. Moreover, it is impossible in any way to connect this feeling with specific events and moments from the past or future. It simply becomes clear that this feeling or impression is already familiar, that this has happened before.

Unconsciously, the brain is always also processing stimuli that are not our focus. The temporal lobe is one of the four large lobes of the brain. At the level of the ears, it performs many tasks - the temporal lobe includes the auditory cortex, as well as the hippocampus and speech center Wernicke.

So what is deja vu?

Almost everyone knows that they have experienced the same position before. Every second German has already experienced this mystery of consciousness. But how does Deja-vu feel? The sense of time is coming out of the train? What are the theories regarding deja vu? Studies show that at least 50 percent of Germans have experienced Deja Vu at least once in their lives. But what about this phenomenon of consciousness? Deja vu denotes the subjective feeling of having already experienced a certain situation in the same way. The term comes from French and means "already done".

According to experienced psychics deja vu- This phenomenon is very common. It is faced by an incredible number of people around the world. Moreover, this does not depend on the age or gender of the person. And they all wonder: "Why does deja vu effect? This article will be devoted to this phenomenon.

Deja vu effect. Why does this happen?

According to people who have repeatedly experienced the manifestation of this phenomenon, deja vu effect is a kind of similarity to a previously experienced movie. You may get the impression that this movie was watched in deep childhood or so long ago that before today in the memory of a person only distant motives remained from him and images. In fact, it is impossible to link all the images into one single picture, however, it can be pointed out that there is some kind of line, barely noticeable, that still links it all together.

It is not necessarily something that is seen, but above all about feeling. Often it seems that we experienced the situation in a dream. But the experience of deja vu has nothing to do with dreams. Unlike sleep, we can withdraw after a few seconds from the experience of dejavi, and we know that this is in the sense of familiarity with misinformed perception. As for Deja-wu, there are various theories. Psychologists suggest that only remember some fragments - parts of the past that were incorrectly associated with the present and be repeated at a certain speed, place or smell.


Sometimes a person faced with deja vu effect, trying to predict what will happen next. He tries to determine what will happen in the next moment, but, unfortunately, this does not work. But as soon as the event is given a move, it immediately becomes clear that this is how everything should develop next time. As a result, there is a feeling that everything that happens has already been experienced before. It seems that sequence of events has long been known, but it is impossible to go ahead of them. Memory clears up with every centimeter of forward movement.

What happens to deja vu in the brain?

Mystic: During the Deja Vu experience, many experience a sense of knowing the course of things beforehand. The experience of Deja-vu is surrounded by something magical. Is it a memory error? Often the phenomenon of consciousness is presented as a spiritual experience from a spiritual point of view. It will be a memory of past lives. However, this assumption is not verifiable.

That's why scientific explanations more reliable. Brain researchers explain it this way: We smell, taste, hear or see something while our brain is comparing early memories with new experiences. Various findings show that epileptics are especially likely to experience memory impairment.

Different scientists put forward different hypotheses regarding the origin and essence of this very phenomena. At the same time, one of the existing versions indicates that the brain in some way changes the encoding temporary space, reality if you like. It turns out some layering of past and present time. This is what unsettles a person, tearing him away from reality, and gives the feeling of a certain acquaintance. It's like everything has happened before.

In epileptic seizures, the same areas of the brain are involved, which are also responsible for evaluating the contents of memory. Another theory claims that the person actually made a certain experience. For example, hike with your partner over a hillside and look down into a valley. However, because you are intensely entertaining, you will not perceive your environment. If you see those hills again at some point and get a familiar feeling, even if you don't realize you were there once, you will experience it as a deja vu experience.

Dislocation theory: are we forgetting what we mean?

The brain only records important experiences and memories that it stores in long-term memory - both positive and negative. Following the repression theory, it would be entirely possible that bad experiences are deliberately forgotten, that is, you repress experiences. Experts also call this process “motivated forgetting.” Proponents of this assumption see the cause of the Deja Vu experience. However, this idea is debatable because psychoanalytic theories are not optimal explores why there is no evidence for the correctness of this interpretation.

The second equally common hypothesis is the version of unconscious data processing during sleep.

Jamevu - the reverse effect of deja vu

Before the information about the new phenomenon was assimilated in the head, an absolutely new phenomenon appeared on the “stage” - jamevu. What jamevu? This term originates in melodic French. It was there that the phrase "Jamais vu" was formed. From French, it translates as "not seen before" or "never known." In fact, everything psychics about jamevu they say it's a state of the subconscious, reverse position deja vu. In other words, it is its complete opposite.

In the meantime, older people have been shown to experience more deja vu than younger people. In general, however, every person can experience this phenomenon of consciousness. The frequency of experience of Deja-vu depends on the function of autobiographical memory. Also, constant fatigue or excessive stress is often the cause of the Deja Vu experience. Periodic déjà vu can be a warning sign of too much stress, so to charge brain regions, déjà vu turns on hormone receptors that control the stress response.

You are constantly energized, which leads to overloading the hippocampus, which in turn can cause déjà vu. Research is quite difficult due to the spontaneous occurrence of this psychological phenomenon. Damn it, he sure knows the place. The strange feeling of experiencing a situation is not Kinomacher's invention. Men and women. Psychologists have also found that the frequency of the Deja Vu experience increases with schooling, income, and mobility—than more people is on the road, the more pictures he has in his head.

It creates impression, as if a place that was once very familiar ceases to be recognizable. The same goes for people and actions, even smells. A person begins to feel that all the knowledge that he previously accumulated has disappeared.

Psychics about jamevu they say that it manifests itself very rarely, however, once it manifests itself in someone, it begins to repeat itself with enviable regularity. According to medical experts, this symptom is a kind of manifestation disorders formed on a psychological level. These include schizophrenia, organic-type senile psychosis, and epilepsy.

Real Perception Reminder

Currently, there are about 30 different theories about the cause of this phenomenon. Ultimately, however, scientists still have not been able to uncover the secret of Deja Vu in over 100 years of research. Are Deja Vus' testimony more early life? Is it a seer ability? Is this the memory of early childhood that Sigmund Freud suspected? Or is our brain crazy and wrong information processing? Esoteric reacts differently than psychologists, psychologists other than neurologists, and even among neurologists there are several theses.

Why is the deja vu effect so frequent?

Based on statistical data, it can be noted that modern man, a healthy person, at least once in a lifetime, but experienced it feeling. This fact is confirmed by 97% of all respondents. Moreover, this phenomenon is much more common in people suffering from various kinds psychological disorders.

One of them is presented by one of the most famous researchers in this field, the American professor Alan Brown, and is: In Deja Vu, we remember the real perception. A perception that was either stored in childhood, or forgotten, or a fraction of a second in short-term memory - but unconscious. For example, in a cafe, a man calls the waitress to pay the bill. A woman walks behind the waitress, a moment too brief to consciously perceive a woman. A few minutes later, the woman's husband is sitting on the subway experiencing Dejava.

Unconsciously, his brain has processed the image of the woman and is now switching to an imaginary recognizing effect. Unsurprisingly, by the way, consciousness also disappears - we have so much information to process all the time, so the brain sorts out and decides what information we can safely neglect.


Interesting fact. On the this moment none research center the world failed to artificially recreate the effect of deja vu. However, all psychics about deja vu effect they say that today it is worth putting aside its study and studying the nature of viruses. After all, a deadly virus is attacking the planet that can mow down half of humanity.

In the short term, even the advertising industry had to use the Deja Vu effect for their own purposes. The stimuli were, for example, subliminally detected during a movie. Within milliseconds, therefore not consciously perceived by the audience. Eventually, the audience's craving for cola increased - and after a long period of time, cola consumption.

Why does the deja vu effect happen?

Among professionals for this publicity stunt, the vocabulary "priming" - "preparation" is used. Memory is not always reliable. This can mislead someone and fake consciousness even with a fiction as a reality. That is, sometimes Deja-vu reflects imagination, such as dreams or stories that you have developed. "The difference between self-remembering and fiction not easy,” explains Chris Moulin, a psychologist at the University of Leeds. For in both processes we form ideas in the head. With distinction: Self-esteem is associated with a special feeling.

Usually people experience deja vu effect very rarely. This fact significantly complicates the process of cognition of this phenomenon. Today, every third medical specialist who studies deja vu effect, tries to find out why it occurs more often in epileptics. Why are they able to experience it several times in one month.

Deja-va may also trigger certain medications or drug interactions. Some neuroscientists suspect that even without drugs during Deja Vus, brain chemistry is crazy. Functions in the brain, therefore, the assumption is, in short, broken. For example, because someone is tired or the metabolism in the brain simply does not work properly. And it comes up again: the misguided feeling of having experienced something.

Trapped in an endless loop

In exceptional cases, groundhog occurs daily, indeed, several times. When he goes for a walk, he thinks that every person has already passed him. It's like epileptics - and an epileptic seizure is often preceded by tiny prolapses of Deja Vus. Chris Moulin hopes to learn more about the Deja Vu phenomenon healthy people through patients Deja-eye. In his research, psychologist Arthur Funhuser also takes on a constant Deja Waus, which is probably more common than thought.

A. Kurgan. Seeing the deja vu effect

According to Kurgan, the whole point deja vu effect comes down to the fact that there is a certain layering of several situations. One situation was experienced in reality, but the second person managed to survive already in the present. After the memories of the past emerge, a deja vu phenomenon.

Deja vu: what does this mean according to scientists?

The feeling that you have experienced a new situation just like that: it is Deja-vu. Researchers are trying to decipher the phenomenon. You'll meet a friend's baby, visit a strange place, or celebrate your first time doing everything - and yet you get the feeling that you've experienced exactly the same situation. With the same people, noises and impressions. But remember that you can't. This strange acquaintance is Deja Vu.

"Deja vu is a common and frequent occurrence of memory, usually lasting only a few seconds, but when interested party surprisingly does,” says psychologist Prof. Uu Wulfradt, researcher at the University of Halle-Wittenberg on the topics of self-alienation and memory phenomena.

But this moment is very difficult, because for the layering of this type, certain conditions must develop. Initially, you need to understand that the temporary structure needs to be changed. At the same time, the imprint of the future will appear in the present. Due to this, it will be possible to see the existential project. Then the whole process will stretch and include the present, the past and the immediate future.

Researchers believe that the majority of the population has experienced or will experience deja vu. The exact number, however, scientists cannot name. In studies, the number of respondents who said they could remember Dejava ranged from 30 percent to 90 percent. It is difficult to study this spontaneous phenomenon, Wolfradt says, explaining the large fluctuations. Also, in such cases, it is difficult to specify the exact circumstances under which Dejava occurs.

Different interpretations of scientists

According to Wolfradt, this is due to the development of the brain, which is mostly completed after 15 years. On the other hand, the period from 15 to 25 years is often very eventful. You accumulate a lot of experience, experience a lot of new things, and you often feel familiar or similar, Wolfradt says. With age, the number of Deja vuz seems to decrease. An amazing scientist, including Deja Vus, most likely will not grow with age. Expert Wolfradt explains this fact as follows: “Perhaps older people no longer experience Deja-vasa, they forget or cannot remember.”

But it is also necessary to point out that none of the above versions was accepted as the truth and a real explanation. The reason is that the phenomenon is not easy to catch. deja vu impossible to classify.

In custody

In conclusion, it should be noted that at the moment the manifestation of such an incredible effect as deja vu effect, is nothing but the processing of all information during the dream period. That is, it turns out that for some period of time the human brain accumulates an incredible number of images. Then, after a while, all these images literally fill all the free memory and splash out on him in a dream.

There is another option, the brain, based on a large number of factors, begins to independently model various situations and scroll through them as dreams. These "real dreams" find approximately similar events in a person's life, after all - this is nothing more than one of the variations of possible future events. Psychics about deja vu this effect is said to occur most often in people who have an undeveloped gift of clairvoyance. It is likely that people of this type simply do not know

Many people are familiar with the deja vu effect. Magical, esoteric, fantastic and religious significance is attributed to this mysterious phenomenon. How psychologists, psychoanalysts and psychiatrists explain the appearance of “memories of the present”.

Everyone has experienced deja vu at least once in their life, even those who hear this word for the first time. Suddenly, there is confidence that “it” has already happened: I have already been here, heard the same sounds, smelled, I know what will happen next. The state of deja vu lasts a few seconds or minutes, but the feeling of slipping time is remembered for a long time. Moments of recognition of the unknown happen in the most ordinary situations, without stress or vivid impressions.

You can just walk down the street, see a falling leaf and understand that this moment is already familiar. Sometimes it seems that something significant will happen in the next second, but nothing happens and the charm dissipates. There remains a memory of a premonition of a miracle, an approach to clairvoyance, for some time the illusion persists that a fraction of a second was not enough to penetrate the thin barrier separating two realities.

The name of this phenomenon comes from the French déjà-vu, which translates as "already seen". The first descriptions of deja vu can be traced almost from the moment of the emergence of writing. Ancient philosophers were sure that these were memories from a past life or a continuous repetition of the same moment. The sane Aristotle was looking for a rational explanation for deja vu, for the first time linking its manifestations with insanity. Aristotle's theory did not find adherents - too many, on the basis of deja vu, would be in the ranks of the mentally handicapped. However, psychiatrists recognize that in people with a hereditary predisposition with impaired perception (epilepsy, schizophrenia), deja vu appears more often.

Deja vu happens equally often in men and women, 90% of people are familiar with the effect of recognizing the unfamiliar. Some claim to regularly experience déjà vu when stressed, tired, or irritated. Children preschool age extremely rarely experience this state, since it manifests itself with a sufficiently developed consciousness.

What is deja vu?

Since almost everyone experiences the effect of deja vu, there is no point in proving its existence. There are many opinions about the nature of this phenomenon. Perhaps these are memories from past lives or a moment of breakthrough into the future? Researchers from various fields return to this topic, trying to unravel the mysterious phenomenon for many decades. Psychologists were the first to solve a difficult problem. At the end of the nineteenth century, Émile Bouarac was the first to introduce the term "déjà vu". The contemporaries of the French psychologist did not pay attention special attention to the discovery of Bouarak, and deja vu remained outside the area of ​​scientific interests for a long time. Perhaps such indifference was due to the inability to accurately determine the moment of occurrence of the state, and there were no conditions for scientific research. Little studied phenomena inevitably acquire a mystical halo. Now, when scientists know about the mechanism of the phenomenon a little more than a hundred years ago, deja vu continues to generate fantastic hypotheses.

The multiplicity of being

Some researchers associate deja vu with the theory of reincarnation. We learn what we have actually seen or heard, but in our past incarnations. The version may seem incredible, but many serious minds consider this option as possible. The Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung was the first to seriously talk about the reincarnation version. The scientist gave the appearance of scientific character to his statement, calling reincarnation a genetic memory. One day, Jung experienced a vivid flash of deja vu: he saw for the first time an 18th-century painting depicting a doctor. The buckles on Dr. Jung's shoes were instantly recognizable, as if the shoes had once belonged to him. Jung's theory has many adherents, for example, Tina Turner, Madonna, Sean Connery are sure that they remember some of their incarnations.

Universal infinity and non-linearity of time

The next hypothesis is close to the previous one - the Universe is cyclically reborn, and together with it, each time we live through the past events again and again. Some parts of the story change, while others stay the same. Past, present and future exist simultaneously. Deja vu is a sign that some events in previous cycles have thrown us back, and now we are given the opportunity to “re-examine”.

Physicists are also trying to open the canopy of the mystery. There is a hypothesis according to which time is not linear, but multi-layered, and as real as space. If at some point we watch TV at home, this does not mean at all that it ceases to exist. Pacific Ocean, Paris or Mars. We can't really see them at the same time, but that doesn't mean anything. Something similar happens over time. We live reality, and at the same time we can participate in the events of the past and the future. Deja vu occurs when the fourth dimension, time, fails. Information not intended for us is accidentally read, and this causes unexpected memories to be experienced.

Psychoanalysis and Memory Games

Materialists are looking for logical explanations. For example, Sigmund Freud believed that deja vu is associated with forgotten dreams. If we take into account that the content of our dreams is usually associated with everyday life, an explanation can be accepted for consideration. During sleep, our brain works out options for the future that worries us. One dream - one option. We constantly watch dreams, but we remember them extremely rarely, more often they remain in our memory. bright moments and almost never details. Memory retains everything that we arbitrarily cannot “pull out” to the surface of consciousness. These flashbacks are what we call déjà vu.

This theory is accepted by many researchers, as it seems to be the most realistic. But memory failures can be explained not only by forgotten dreams. Short-term memory stores information from a second to several minutes, while the volume is limited to 7-9 elements. Everything that attracts our attention gets into short-term memory, but these memories are fragile. The information that we constantly use is stored in long-term memory.

For example, we came on an excursion to Rome. Works for short-term memory in abundance: emotions, bright elements, beauty of various calibers. Some of the impressions will remain in long-term memory: frescoes, temples, crowd noise, heat, high spirits, an Italian woman in a flowery dress, etc. A few years later we get to Barcelona for the first time and experience an outbreak of deja vu - we already know this city. But this is not so, just some element repeated the Roman impressions: hot, noisy and a woman in a brightly colored dress walked by. The brain puts the puzzles together into a picture already seen, and recognition dawns on you.

Not so long ago, the hippocampus, a part of the brain that was previously considered responsible for the perception of smells, was fundamentally studied. It turned out that the hippocampus is involved in spatial orientation, the formation of emotions and the consolidation of impressions. Our brain takes in new information every second and compares it with what already exists in long-term memory. Failure to compare new short-term memory data with long-term memory "files" can be a cause of déjà vu.

To save an event from long-term memory, information is recorded on a material carrier - a protein inside neurons, the so-called arch. Ark makes our memory work correctly, but if there is not enough protein, the brain perceives information more and more slowly, sometimes mistakes are possible when the new seems familiar.

Head injury

Doctors suggest that deja vu may be caused by brain injury. The left hemisphere is responsible for the perception of the present and future, while the right hemisphere stores information about the past. If the functions of one of the hemispheres are disturbed, the picture of the past or the feeling of the present may be distorted. Failures occur not only with physical injuries, sometimes severe enough stress to cause confusion in memory.

Scientists distinguish two periods when the phenomenon of deja vu manifests itself more often than at other times. Teenagers (15-19 years old) and middle-aged people (30-35 years old) are more likely to experience memory jumps.

The vast majority of researchers treat deja vu as a reaction to stress and do not see any threat in it. And only psychiatrists tend to see this phenomenon as a harbinger of mental problems. The phenomenon has not been fundamentally studied for a long time, since there was a strong belief that deja vu could not be induced in the laboratory. But in 1955, the neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield (Canada) accidentally made a discovery. Penfield studied epilepsy, and in the process of working with patients, the scientist caused deja vu artificially. The doctor stimulated the patients' brains with low-voltage electrical discharges, and the patients talked about their experiences of déjà vu. It was from these results that psychiatrists concluded that the phenomenon was pathological.

I don't want to believe, but...

So, from the point of view of psychiatrists, deja vu is a symptom. We would like to explain the breaks in time by clairvoyance or intuition, but psychiatrists are relentless - repeated manifestations of deja vu are mental disorders. Specialists from psychiatry are disturbed by the fact that the phenomenon is accompanied by a loss of connection with reality, however, only for a few seconds. It is reassuring that soul healers admit to a lack of awareness of this phenomenon.

So what is deja vu?

There is no explanation for deja vu, which suits everyone. There are people who consider it a fiction and the result of forgetfulness. The following story is told: an American described a bright flash of deja vu while visiting Fort Laramie. The man swore that he had never been to these places before. Feeling of deja vu was so insistent that the man knew about the location of the rooms and doors of the fort without going inside. By the end of the tour, the American was practically convinced of unexpected clairvoyance, but he was not destined to make a career as a seer. The riddle was revealed when visiting a souvenir shop, where our hero saw a book he once read about the events in the fort. It was from this source that the descriptions of the interiors and other details were drawn. Sometimes we just forget about the learned information.

Researchers of deja vu have not come to a common opinion about the nature of the phenomenon, but all are united in one thing - this is a reason to think. If you do not experience stress and do not experience overexertion, just know that the same thing happened to you that happens to 90% of the inhabitants of the Earth.

Psychoanalysts and parapsychologists recommend immersing yourself in analysis and thinking about the correctness of the chosen path. Philosophers are sure that moments of deja vu - best time for creativity. Major discoveries about nature mysterious phenomenon we have yet to come - representatives of all fields of science and research are in full swing.

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