When you see an event or hear a certain sound, have you ever felt it ever happened in the past? Oddly when asked when and where it happened, we are difficult to explain. Well, such an event is known as deja vu.
Deja vu Illustration
Image credit : wyborcza.pl
The phenomenon of deja vu seems closely related to the part of the brain called dentate gyrus. This section is responsible for storing episodic memories, aka fragmentary.
So when we see or experience something, the dentate gyrus will record all its components, such as smells, colors, sounds, time and so on which our senses caught, to then be matched with episodic memories. If not found, then the event will be "enrolled" as a new event.
While deja vu itself occurs when the dentate gyrus is not working properly. So we will feel seeing an event that has been experienced previously based on the similarity of some components (smell, color, sound, etc.), when in fact not.
A study has been conducted by a psychologist named Kenneth A. Peller of Northwestern University associated with this deja vu phenomenon. Ken showed some pictures to the volunteers but told the volunteers to think of something else in their minds.
So, for example, Ken shows a picture of an apple, he will ask his volunteers to imagine durian fruit. When showing a picture of a chicken animal, volunteers will be asked to imagine the buffalo. Etc.
Well, after a while Ken showed the picture of the buffalo to all the volunteers. Surprisingly, some volunteers feel confused and hesitant, whether they have actually seen the buffalo picture before or just thought about it.
It eventually develops into deja vu, that is, when we have trouble distinguishing whether the events we see have actually been experienced or only exist in the shadows, aka wishful thinking.
Deja vu this can be severe and very disturbing our daily lives. In England, there was once a chronic deja vu sufferer. This person is very confident and can tell in detail the events that he has never experienced before. For example, he felt no need to eat because he was sure he had eaten before. Is Poor not it?
