Excerpt from I've Been Here Before by Twilightgirl
Autumn Equinox/Samhain 2008 issue
Déjà vu is a French phase that means "already seen". Now I'm sure that just about all of you have experienced déjà vu at some point or another, that feeling of "I've been here before doing this" or "I've said that before", when you know for a fact you haven't. It can be kind of unnerving. No one knows exactly what causes déjà vu, but there are a number of theories floating about.
Déjà vu when experienced normally lasts approximately 10 seconds and is experienced the most by those between the ages of 15 and 25 years old. Research tends to show that the experiences of déjà vu decrease as we get older. Déjà vu is experienced through the senses, such as seeing, hearing, taste and touch.
Emile Boirac, a French psychic researcher gave this phenomenon the name déjà vu back in 1876 when he started studying it. Since then many have studied déjà vu in an attempt to explain exactly what it is. Sigmund Freud concluded that déjà vu was the result of repressed memories or desires. He thought that the mind had repressed the memories so deeply that the normal conscious brain was unable to recall them. This theory has been used by many scientists throughout the 20th century. They call it paramnesia.
Déjà vu can be broken down into two main categories - associate déjà vu and biological déjà vu.
Associate déjà vu is the most common type experienced. Many researchers think that this type of déjà vu is based on memory experiences. It is where you see, hear, smell or experience something that triggers a feeling that you associate with something you have seen, heard, smelled or experienced before.
Biological déjà vu is common among people with temporal lobe epilepsy. When people are about to have an epileptic seizure they will often experience déjà vu. When biological déjà vu happens, researchers are able to study the brain more easily to find out where in the brain déjà vu happens.
Arthur Funkhouser went on to define a further three types of déjà vu experiences. Déjà vecu (already experienced), déjà senti (already felt), and déjà visite (already visited). The most common of these is déjà vecu, where you have the sensation of having done something before or being in the exact same situation. Often people who experience this are able to predict what will happen next. Déjà senti is the experience of remembering something that is triggered by a voice or thought and déjà visite is when an actual place feels familiar, like you have been there before, but you never have.
Interesting there is jamais vu, which is the opposite of déjà vu. You could be in a familiar situation, such as sitting in your lounge and suddenly everything will seem unfamiliar, like you are sitting in the room for the first time and viewing your surroundings with new eyes.
Déjà vu when experienced normally lasts approximately 10 seconds and is experienced the most by those between the ages of 15 and 25 years old. Research tends to show that the experiences of déjà vu decrease as we get older. Déjà vu is experienced through the senses, such as seeing, hearing, taste and touch.
Emile Boirac, a French psychic researcher gave this phenomenon the name déjà vu back in 1876 when he started studying it. Since then many have studied déjà vu in an attempt to explain exactly what it is. Sigmund Freud concluded that déjà vu was the result of repressed memories or desires. He thought that the mind had repressed the memories so deeply that the normal conscious brain was unable to recall them. This theory has been used by many scientists throughout the 20th century. They call it paramnesia.
Déjà vu can be broken down into two main categories - associate déjà vu and biological déjà vu.
Associate déjà vu is the most common type experienced. Many researchers think that this type of déjà vu is based on memory experiences. It is where you see, hear, smell or experience something that triggers a feeling that you associate with something you have seen, heard, smelled or experienced before.
Biological déjà vu is common among people with temporal lobe epilepsy. When people are about to have an epileptic seizure they will often experience déjà vu. When biological déjà vu happens, researchers are able to study the brain more easily to find out where in the brain déjà vu happens.
Arthur Funkhouser went on to define a further three types of déjà vu experiences. Déjà vecu (already experienced), déjà senti (already felt), and déjà visite (already visited). The most common of these is déjà vecu, where you have the sensation of having done something before or being in the exact same situation. Often people who experience this are able to predict what will happen next. Déjà senti is the experience of remembering something that is triggered by a voice or thought and déjà visite is when an actual place feels familiar, like you have been there before, but you never have.
Interesting there is jamais vu, which is the opposite of déjà vu. You could be in a familiar situation, such as sitting in your lounge and suddenly everything will seem unfamiliar, like you are sitting in the room for the first time and viewing your surroundings with new eyes.