Monday, 27 April 2015
The Impression of Déjà Vu.
This week we’d like to suggest some readings on a strange phenomenon that people may experience when travelling, among other occasions: the impression of déjà vu.
The first link below describes just one example of this phenomenon: you are touring a castle in a country that you are visiting for the first time, when suddenly you have the impression that you have been there before. But after the tour, while visiting the castle’s gift shop, you see a postcard with a photo of the castle, and you realize that a movie that you saw several years ago was shot there. The two experiences seemed too distant or disjointed in your memory for you to make the connection explicitly, but they were close enough for you to have an implicit sense of familiarity.
But that is only one of the many possible explanations for déjà vu. In fact, there are at least 40 different theories about this elusive phenomenon. They are not mutually exclusive, because déjà vu can probably be triggered by a variety of mechanisms. Three of these are explained in the short video that you can view at the second link below. The third link below is to an article that shows how different areas of the temporal lobe are activated when you experience the feeling of familiarity as opposed to when you actually recall a memory.
Been There, Done That – or Did I?: Déjà Vu Found to Originate in Similar Scenes
What is déjà vu? – Michael Molina
What causes déjà vu?
The Emergence of Consciousness | Comments Closed
