“I’ve been there before”: why is déjà vu so common?

The term déjà vu has become global. It is used in all parts of the world. It means “already seen” in French and sums up a strange phenomenon that occurs with memory, but much more common than one might believe. It is so common that research shows that 97% of people have experienced déjà vu at least once in their lives and that 67% experience it regularly.

There are many technical definitions. One of the most accepted is the one proposed in 1983 by Dr. Vernon Neppe. “Any subjectively inappropriate impression of familiarity of present experience with an indeterminate past.”. In other words, it’s about experiencing a strange familiarity with a place, event, person, or even feeling that we’ve never experienced before in the past.

Almost all studies agree that the frequency of déjà vu decreases with age, and that a peak of about 2.5 experiences per year is reached in young adults, between the ages of 20 and 24. Then the regularity decreases until they become exceptional events.

“A possible explanation could be based on plasticity of the young brain, which is more active and in the process of forming new neural connections. “This could make young people more susceptible to discrepancies in perception and recognition that lead to déjà vu,” he explained in an interview with Infobae Francisco Esteban Ruiz, Professor of Cell Biology at the University of Jaén, Spain. “We also need to keep in mind that young people may be more open to sharing and discussing such experiences, while older adults may be less likely to report them,” he added.

Who hasn’t experienced a walk through a city they’ve never visited before and felt at home, as if they knew every corner of it? Or meeting a person for the first time and feeling like you shared a few moments in the past? Or feel attacked by a new emotion and recognize it as familiar, as if it were a common feeling?

In these moments, our mind deceives us. Memories seem to fail us. Past and present blur, opening a blanket of doubt. Has what I see really happened? As crazy as it sounds, déjà vu happens to almost everyone, and why it’s so common is still being researched in depth.

“Déjà vu may be more common than we think because of the highly complex and integrated nature of our cognitive processes and the way we process memory and perception. It’s not so much that the brain is playing tricks on us as it is that it could be which constantly tries to make sense of what comes to us from the world that surrounds us based on past experiences. Déjà vu could be a by-product of this constant attempt to connect new experiences with existing memories, which can sometimes lead to a false sense of familiarity,” warned Esteban Ruiz.

According to the nature of the experience, there are three types of déjà vu. All are supplemented by a hypothetical example:

Already visited: It is the feeling that you have been to a place, city or business before, although in reality it is the first time you have visited them. It is common for those who experience it to be familiar with the streets, with the details of the place, as if they have seen it before.

Carlos entered an abandoned theater where he had never been before. A sense of déjà vu washed over him as he walked through the empty corridors up to the stage. Every detail, from the worn seats to the faded curtain, felt strangely familiar, as if he had witnessed the work in the same place before.

He already lived: It’s the feeling that I’ve experienced a situation before, even though it’s actually the first time. This usually happens with people who meet for the first time, but recognize a certain connection, as if they have already met in the past. Chris Moulin, one of the specialists who has studied the phenomenon the most, assures that in déjà vécu the recognition is so strong that whoever experiences it behaves as if these perceptions are correct, regardless of how likely it is to this situation has happened before.

Claudia met a colleague in the middle of a cardiology conference, her medical specialty. Although they had never met before, they discovered surprising commonalities in their approaches and conclusions as they discussed their research. They had never worked together on a study, but Claudia acted as if she was sure that they had crossed paths in the past, that their minds had matched.

He could already feel it: It is the feeling that you have experienced an emotion before, even if it is the first time that it is consciously felt. For example, during a dazzling sunset, it is possible to feel a deep sense of nostalgia, as if you had experienced the moment before.

Andrés was considering a painting in an art gallery when a wave of melancholy washed over him. Although he had never seen the work before, the combination of colors and shapes evoked a deep sense of loss. As he tried to understand the source of his sadness, a vague memory surfaced in his mind: a moment of parting that was no longer in his memory, but somehow the image appeared.

Déjà vu has its opposite version. It’s called “jamais vu” and it’s the other way around: instead of a feeling of familiarity, there’s a strangeness, a perception of something completely new, when in fact the situation has already happened and is even repeating itself. It is a mysterious psychological phenomenon that challenges an individual’s perception of familiarity with their environment.

During a jamais vu episode, the individual may have difficulty recognizing information that would normally be considered familiar, leading to a sense of detachment from reality.

This phenomenon, like déjà vu, is the cause of debates and differences in the scientific community that studies it. Although its origin is still unclear, most experts suggest that it is related to fatigue, stress or neurological disorders and that it arises from an imbalance in the neural networks responsible for recognition. These imbalances can lead a person to be confused, to feel strange about the route they always take to work, for example, or to find a word they have read a thousand times strange.

Ana lived in the same house in the city of Buenos Aires for decades. One day, while walking down a street he had walked countless times, he suddenly felt a strange and disturbing sensation. Everything he saw, the buildings, the shops, even the neighbors, seemed foreign to him, as if he had never seen them in his life. Every day she experienced the world around her as if she were a tourist, someone who set foot in those streets for the first time.

Although scientific research has provided some clues, there is still no real clue as to the origin of the phenomenon. In an article he wrote ConversationSpanish expert Francisco Esteban Ruiz presented six theories that could explain why déjà vu happens in the human mind.

“All theories are based on scientific research and observations. The neural desynchronization theory and the recognition error theory are of particular interest because they are based on solid neurological and cognitive foundations. However, it is important to realize that déjà vu cannot be explained by a single theory, but rather by the interaction of several cognitive and neural processes,” he explained. Infobae.

Neuronal desynchronization: Sensory messages come directly to long-term memory without passing through the control station of short-term memory. This creates a sense of familiarity with the experience because it seems as if the situation has already been experienced. Desynchronization can occur as a result of a temporary imbalance in neuronal activity.

Fragmented memory– Here, new experiences can activate fragments of past memories stored in the memory. When these fragments coincide with the current situation, a sense of familiarity arises even though the whole experience is new, which can lead to the illusion that we have already experienced the situation.

Errors in recognition: The theory focuses on how the brain processes and recognizes information. During an episode of déjà vu, the brain can make the mistake of mistaking the new for the familiar, leading to the feeling that the current experience has happened before.

Parallel processing: According to this hypothesis, there is a delay in the brain. Information processing can be delayed for a while, leading the brain to perceive the information as familiar after final processing. This usually happens when the mind is working on multiple tasks at the same time.

Divided attention: When attention is divided between two or more activities, information processing may be less efficient, leading to confusion about the familiarity of the situation. If sufficient conscious attention is not given to the task, the brain may have difficulty remembering whether the experience is new or familiar.

Neural connections: Connections between different areas of the brain can become stronger or weaker over time, which can lead to abnormal activation of memory networks in certain situations. When the memory network is unexpectedly activated, the brain can interpret an experience as familiar even though it never happened.

The phenomenon of déjà vu remains a fascinating mystery that attracts scientists from various fields. Decades of research have failed to resolve concerns about why this phenomenon occurs in the brain, why this blackout is so common. There is still no clear consensus on its origin and underlying mechanisms.

Specialties are intertwined in the study of the phenomenon. Neurologists are interested in how the brain processes and stores information, identifying possible abnormalities in neuronal activity. Neuroscientists seek to understand how neural connections change over time and create familiarity with an unfamiliar event. Psychiatrists are interested in how déjà vu is related to disorders such as anxiety or stress, while psychologists are investigating what role cognitive and perceptual processes may play in the experience.

After all, the key to the mystery lies in deepening the study, following an interdisciplinary approach that sheds light and makes it possible to decipher why déjà vu occurs.