05/19/2025

The Mechanics of Déjà Vu

Understanding the fleeting sense of familiarity

Déjà vu, which translates from French as "already seen," stems from discrepancies in how our brain processes memories. Brown (2003) explains that this phenomenon occurs when a new experience partially resembles a previous one, yet the original memory remains unconsciously unrecallable.

This mismatch can lead the brain to perceive a new event as familiar, driven by similar spatial or sensory indicators. Neurocognitive theories frequently identify the temporal lobe, particularly the hippocampus, as a key area crucial for forming and retrieving memories, as well as for these misinterpretations.

Dual-processing theories suggest that déjà vu occurs when the brain’s parallel memory systems—automatic (faster, subconscious) and controlled (slower, conscious)—become out of sync (Findler, 1998). In this framework, the automatic system prematurely registers a situation as familiar before the controlled system completes its verification process, generating the uncanny feeling of reliving the moment.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Psychology Today.