Abstracts from articles about normal déjà vu

Neuroimaging and cognitive changes during déjà vu

Epilepsy Behav. 2009 Jan;14(1):190-6. Epub 2008 Oct 5.

Kovacs N, Auer T, Balas I, Karadi K, Zambo K, Schwarcz A, Klivenyi P, Jokeit H, Horvath K, Nagy F, Janszky J.

Department of Neurology, University of Pecs, Pecs, Hungary. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

OBJECTIVE: The cause or the physiological role of déjà vu (DV) in healthy people is unknown. The pathophysiology of DV-type epileptic aura is also unresolved. Here we describe a 22-year-old woman treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the left internal globus pallidus for hemidystonia. At certain stimulation settings, DBS elicited reproducible episodes of DV.

METHODS: Neuropsychological tests and single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT) were performed during DBS-evoked DV and during normal DBS stimulation without DV.

RESULTS: SPECT during DBS-evoked DV revealed hyperperfusion of the right (contralateral to the electrode) hippocampus and other limbic structures. Neuropsychological examinations performed during several evoked DV episodes revealed disturbances in nonverbal memory.

CONCLUSION: Our results confirm the role of mesiotemporal structures in the pathogenesis of DV. We hypothesize that individual neuroanatomy and disturbances in gamma oscillations or in the dopaminergic system played a role in DBS-elicited DV in our patient.

Déjà vu in the laboratory: a behavioral and experiential comparison of posthypnotic amnesia and posthypnotic familiarity

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2008 Oct;56(4):425-50.

O'Connor AR, Barnier AJ, Cox RE.

University of Leeds, United Kingdom. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

This experiment aimed to create a laboratory analogue of déjà vu. During hypnosis, 1 group of high hypnotizables completed a puzzle game and then received a posthypnotic amnesia suggestion to forget the game (PHA condition). Another group of highs were not given the game but received a posthypnotic familiarity suggestion that it would feel familiar (PHF condition). After hypnosis, all participants were given the game and described their reactions to it. Whereas 83% of participants in both conditions passed their respective suggestions, more in the PHF condition felt a sense of déjà vu. An EAT inquiry revealed that they experienced sensory fascination and confusion about the source of familiarity, akin to everyday déjà vu. These findings highlight the value of using hypnosis as a laboratory analogue of déjà vu and provide a framework for investigating clinical manifestations of this phenomenon.

Recognition Memory, Familiarity, and Déjà vu Experiences

Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17 Issue 5, Pages 353 - 357; Published Online: 15 Oct 2008

Anne M. Cleary

Address correspondence to Anne M. Cleary, Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1876; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Déjà vu occurs when one feels as though a situation is familiar, despite evidence that the situation could not have been experienced before. Until recently, the topic of déjà vu remained largely outside of the realm of mainstream scientific investigation. However, interest in investigating the nature of déjà vu is growing among researchers of cognitive processes. In some cases, déjà vu may be understood within the context of research on human recognition memory. Specifically, déjà vu may sometimes result from familiarity-based recognition, or recognition that is based on feelings of familiarity that occur without identification of their source.

Copyright © 2008 Association for Psychological Science

Déjà vu experiences are rarely associated with pathological dissociation

The Journal of nervous and mental disease 2008;196(5):417-9.

Adachi N [1]; Akanuma N [2]; Adachi T [1,3]; Takekawa Y [4]; Adachi Y [5]; Ito M [6]; and Ikeda H [7]

1 Adachi Mental Clinic, Kitano 7-5-12, Kiyota, Sapporo, Japan 004-0867
2 Adult Mental Health Service, South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London
3 Department of Psychiatry, Juntendo University Hospital, Tokyo
4 Department of Psychological Medicine, Hiratsuka Kyosai Hospital, Hiratsuka
5 Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Shirakabadai Hospital, Sapporo
6 National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous and Muscular Disorders, Kodaira
7 Department of Neuropsychiatry, Sapporo Medical University Hospital, Sapporo

We investigated the relation between déjà vu and dissociative experiences in nonclinical subjects. In 227 adult volunteers, déjà vu and dissociative experiences were evaluated by means of the Inventory of Déjà vu Experiences Assessment (IDEA) and Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). Déjà vu experiences occurred in 162 (71.4%) individuals. In univariate correlation analysis, the frequency of déjà vu experiences, as well as five other IDEA symptoms and age at the time of evaluation, correlated significantly with the DES score. After exclusion of intercorrelative effects using multiple regression analysis, déjà vu experiences did not remain in the model. The DES score was best correlated with a model that included age, jamais vu, depersonalization, and precognitive dreams. Two indices for pathological dissociation (DES-taxon and DES =30) were not associated with déjà vu experiences. Our findings suggest that déjà vu experiences are unlikely to be core pathological dissociative experiences.

Key Words: déjà vu experiences, dissociation, depersonalization, Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES)

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Demographic and psychological features of déjà vu experiences in a nonclinical Japanese population

J Nerv Ment Dis. 2003 Apr;191(4):242-7.

Adachi N, Adachi T, Kimura M, Akanuma N, Takekawa Y, Kato M.

Adachi Mental Clinic, Kitano 7-5-12, Kiyota, Sapporo, Japan 004-0867.

The authors investigated the frequency and correlates of déjà vu experiences in 386 healthy adult volunteers recruited from several areas in Japan. Déjà vu experiences and related experiences were evaluated using the Inventory of Déjà vu Experiences Assessment. Déjà vu experiences were observed by 294 (76.2%) of the 386 participants. Persons who experienced déjà vu were younger and more educated than persons who had not experienced it. There were no differences in the frequency of déjà vu experiences based on sex, hand preference, or area of residence. Subsequent factor analysis associated déjà vu with precognitive dreams and remembering dreams as dream- and memory-related factors rather than with the dissociation-related factors of depersonalization, derealization, jamais vu, and daydreams or with mental activity-related factors such as paranormal quality and travel frequency. Results suggest that déjà vu experiences are associated with good memory function.

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[Depersonalization and déjà vu experiences: prevalences in nonclinical samples] [Article in German]

Z Klin Psychol Psychopathol Psychother. 1991;39(4):357-68.

Probst P, Jansen J.

Psychologisches Institut II, Universität Hamburg.

According to the relevant psychological and psychiatric literature, depersonalization and déjà vu experiences are usually viewed as symptoms of severe psychiatric or neurological disorders, especially in schizophrenia, depression and epilepsy. Studies of these phenomena in non-clinical populations are rate. In this article we present the results of several epidemiological investigations. On the basis of survey and interview research, quantitative and qualitative aspects of both phenomena were assessed, as well as the relations with personality variables like emotionality. The results indicate prevalence rates up to 80 percent in non-clinical populations. Based on epidemiological considerations, the question of differentiation between clinical and non-clinical forms of depersonalization and déjà vu is discussed.

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