Exposition Essay-Nylvie Loire

The Déjà vu Phenomenon
Nylvie Loire Aviles Collamat
Déjà vu explains the weird feeling that a situation experienced before happened again.
Scientists believe that this phenomenon might be related to the memory process somehow. So,
what is déjà vu? How can Science explain how this mental phenomenon occur?
Déjà vu is a French phrase which means “already seen.” Emile Boirac, a French scientist,
first studied this phenomenon and coined the name déjà vu in 1976. Often déjà vu is explained as
seeing or experiencing something that has never been experienced before, knowing that it never
happened yet.
It is extremely difficult to study déjà vu because this phenomenon happens quickly and
unannounced. It occurs only in some but never in others. It has no physical signs nor witnesses,
only people saying, “hey, déjà vu!” Thus, there is no firm research and no definite explanation of
how this phenomenon occurs. Déjà vu studies depend on the subjective data given by people
who experienced it. For two centuries, people have tried to think of reasons why déjà vu
happens. Philosophers, psychologists, and paranormal experts have all had their theories. Many
religions also considered déjà vu as a premonition from a higher power to predict the future. As
the world progressed to a more technological state, scientists tend to look at everything from the
perspective of Science. Even if it was difficult to explain the déjà vu phenomenon, scientists
found robust theories that suggest how this phenomenon occurs.
In the early 1900s, many scientists put the study of déjà vu on hold because it was
considered part of paranormal activity. However, scientists in the present day used imaging
technology to observe brain activities during déjà vu. They discovered that the medial temporal
lobe is involved in conscious memory. Obringer said in 2006 that The parahippocampal gyrus,
the rhinal cortex, and the amygdala are found inside the medial temporal lobe. John D.E.
Gabrieli at Stanford University discovered in 1997 that the hippocampus is involved in recalling
events consciously. He further stated that the parahippocampal gyrus allows the determination of
familiar things and is not (and without actually retrieving a specific memory to do it).
Dr. Alan S Brown of the Psychiatry Department of Columbia University explained that
déjà vu might happen when there is a slight change in the average neural transmission speed
resulting from a marginally longer separation between similar messages received from two
separated neural paths.
He further explained that another cause of déjà vu might be the distractions that caused
the fleeting split in the continuous perception, thus resulting in the impression of two separate
conceivable events. Lastly, he stated that “the activation of implicit familiarity for some portion
(or all) of the present experience without an accompanying conscious recollection of the prior
encounter. Procedures that involve degraded or occluded stimulus presentation, divided
attention, mere subliminal exposure, and hypnosis may prove especially useful in elucidating this
enigmatic cognitive illusion.”
According to many scientists, déjà vu results from the brain’s malfunction, a faulty
memory, or a “cognitive illusion.”
Art Markman (2005) said that déjà vu is just the system’s reaction that the memory uses
to convey that the situation happened before. Vernon Neppe (1983) stated that déjà vu is the
familiar impression of the present situation to an unsettled past.

There are many suggestions and theories on how déjà vu happens. In the end, this
phenomenon is still defined by the subjective data given by the person who experiences the
phenomenon. There still may be no concrete evidence to explain how déjà vu disrupts a routine.
However, scientists have been slowly opening the doors to the possibility that déjà vu can
be explained more later on by Science and studied further using the present day’s technology.
The study continues, and the learning never stops. Déjà vu will continue to intrigue
scientists’ minds and pose as one of the great mysteries of the human mind waiting to be
uncovered.
So, how does déjà vu occur? It is all in mind.
References:
Brown, Alan. The Déjà Vu Illusion. 2004. Current Directions in Psychological Science - CURR
DIRECTIONS PSYCHOL SCI. 13. 10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00320.x.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228746358_The_Deja_Vu_Illusion. Retrieved
November 17, 2020.
Déjà vu: Our Stunning Dreams of Discovery. https://bahaiteachings.org/deja-vu-stunning-
dreams-discovery/. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
Markman, Art, Ph.D., Psychology Today, January 2005. https://bahaiteachings.org/deja-vu-
stunning-dreams-discovery/. Retrieved November 17, 2020
Obringer, Lee Ann “How Déjà Vu Works.” April 11, 2006. https://bahaiteachings.org/deja-vu-
stunning-dreams-discovery/. Retrieved November 17, 2020

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The Déjà vu Phenomenon

Nylvie Loire Aviles Collamat

found robust theories that suggest how this phenomenon occurs.

separated neural paths.

encounter. Procedures that involve degraded or occluded stimulus presentation, divided

enigmatic cognitive illusion.”

memory, or a “cognitive illusion.”

familiar impression of the present situation to an unsettled past.

So, how does déjà vu occur? It is all in mind.

DIRECTIONS PSYCHOL SCI. 13. 10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00320.x.

November 17, 2020.

Déjà vu: Our Stunning Dreams of Discovery. https://bahaiteachings.org/deja-vu-stunning-

dreams-discovery/. Retrieved November 17, 2020.

Markman, Art, Ph.D., Psychology Today, January 2005. https://bahaiteachings.org/deja-vu-

stunning-dreams-discovery/. Retrieved November 17, 2020

stunning-dreams-discovery/. Retrieved November 17, 2020

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