Is it possible to remember someone you've never met, somewhere you've never been or a situation that has never actually happened?
This feeling, known as d??j?? vu, happens to most people at some point in their life.
UW-Madison junior Andy Porubcan said his experiences with d??j?? vu leave him feeling strange and bewildered.
\I feel really weirded out. But I feel like it means something more than just randomness, you know?"" he said. ""I think its aliens trying to tell me something.""
While alien brain control methods may be a bit farfetched, the theories attempting to explain this sensation argue everything from reincarnation to seizures as potential causes.
The term d??j?? vu only appeared in the last 60 years and refers to an uncanny experience sense of the overly familiar, the tediously repetitive, or the already known.
Alan Brown is a psychology professor at Southern Methodist University who studies d??j?? vu, and has published several books on the subject.
He said the potential causes for this experience are numerous.
""There are at least two dozen theories on what causes d??j?? vu. The scientific theories can be generally subsumed under four types: momentary brain dysfunction, two cognitive processes getting out of synchrony with each other, implicit memory of some prior experience and double perception,"" Brown said.
Brown said that although it is unclear what triggers d??j?? vu, the process occurring in the brain at the time of the experience is fairly clear.
""The action related to d??j?? vu seems to be in the temporal lobe in the right hemisphere.?? One theory is that there is a small seizure that creates this brief but confusing sense of familiarity,"" he said.??""Another is that our sense of familiarity gets triggered by some cues in the present experience that we are not consciously aware of.""
While it may seem that d??j?? vu often occurs sporadically, in moments when it is least expected, there are several trends for when and why d??j?? vu occurs.
Peter Krapp is a professor in film, media and visual studies at the University of California-Irvine. He studies the connection of d??j?? vu in relation to the effects of media technology.
He said although d??j?? vu is not self-triggered, there are common situations in which it tends to occur.
""The scientific consensus seems to be that it is involuntary; that it is more likely to occur in younger rather than older people, and more likely to happen when you are tired. Psychological theories point to stress or anxiety, to one's earliest memories, and to space-time relations,"" Krapp said.
He also feels that new media technologies of mass distraction may be disturbing cultural memory through screen memories, false recognitions and premonitions.
D??j?? vu is also commonly seen in people with epilepsy prior to the commencement of a seizure.
UW-Madison Neurology Professor Paul Rutecki said that d??j?? vu that is followed by a seizure is considered an aura and represents the area of the seizure onset.
""The area of the brain that is involved in d??j?? vu sensations is the hippocampus, where memories are first consolidated,"" he said.??""Stimulation of this area of the brain in people with epilepsy can produce d??j?? vu sensations. The opposite may also occur, jamais vu, being somewhere familiar but not recognizing the place.""??
Rutecki also said that it is unknown if d??j?? vu in people without epilepsy may be associated with abnormal brain activity like a seizure.
One of the popular myths surrounding the cause of d??j?? vu relates to reincarnation; that brief moments of d??j?? vu are connected to psychic experiences or memories from a past life.
While both Krapp and Brown said there is no evidence disproving this theory, Krapp said it is a matter of belief versus scientific study.
""This idea of a relation between d??j?? vu and reincarnation holds as much truth as the idea of reincarnation itself,"" he said. ""Reincarnation is a question of belief, not a scientifically verifiable fact. D??j?? vu poses interesting problems for scientific methods, but is not a matter of belief.""
Krapp added that like dreams, which are universal and not pathological as such, d??j?? vu needs no cure, but allows access to structures of condensation, deformation and displacement and their potentially pathogenic effects.
