Ever felt like you’ve done something or experienced a new situation before, making you feel like you know what could happen next? Well, you no matter how striking your recollection may be, sorry to break it to you that you do not have psychic powers. That feeling of re-experiencing the unexperienced is called déjà vu.
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What is déjà vu?
It is a French phrase which literally means ‘already seen’.It describes the uncanny sensation that you’ve already experienced something, even when you know you never have. A familiar sight or sound can trigger the feeling.
For instance, you walk into a room in a building you’ve never visited yet feel like you know it inside out. It is estimated that two thirds of the world’s population experience this weird flashback phenomenon.
Most feelings of déjà vu disappear quickly, making it difficult to recall specific details about the experience.
It is especially common among people between the ages of 15 and 25; it occurs less frequently with age.
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Possible causes
Déjà vu remains one of the most fascinating unexplained mysteries in the world. However, scientists have other the years, espoused some theories to explain this interesting memory illusion.
For most people, the phenomenon has no adverse health impacts. But, in rare cases, it can be a sign of a neurological disorder in people with epilepsy, for instance. These individuals often have focal seizures that occur in one area of the brain, sometimes in the temporal lobe where we store memories. These are called temporal lobe seizures.
These seizures can produce feelings of déjà vu. Here are some signs that show that you may be having a temporal lobe seizure versus a regular déjà vu experience include:
- Sudden, unexplained feelings, like joy or anger
- Problems controlling your muscles, twitching in your muscles
- Having sensations that involve vision, taste, smell, hearing, and touch
- Feeling as though you are about to have a seizure
