Have you ever been walking down a street, one you’ve never visited before, only to feel an odd sensation that you’ve been there before? But how? This is the first time you’ve walked this street, in this city, in this state. You probably brush it off as something unimportant, and move on with your day. Most of us have experience deja vu in our life, but what exactly is this eery thing?
Scientists have been studying deja vu, and where it may come from or what may be causing it though it’s fleeting nature makes it hard to study concretely. But, here is what we do know:
-It usually occurs between the ages of 15-25.
– Theory one is that it is a redirection happening in your brain that sends a short-term memory directly to a long-term memory, causing some confusion for you of course.
– Theory two is that it’s a triggering of familiarity in the brain that oddly enough, has no association with a real memory at all.
-Yet another theory is that it has to do with association. You may actually be remembering something you saw in a dream or even a movie, and are treating it as a real occurrence or memory.
Akira O’Conner is a psychology researcher and has done a lot of research on the matter. They suggest it may be a sort of diagnostic test ran by the brain. Now that sounds scientific. In a recent study, O’Conner tested patients’ deja vu and expected to see the memory centers in their brains light up but actually found the decision-making portion of their brains light up. This led O’Conner to believe deja vu is the brain correcting itself, like a self-diagnostic test.
Which theory do you hold true to?
