Doctor Explains What Déjà Vu Is

There have been many theories that try to explain the weird sensation that is déjà vu, but an NHS doctor has potentially put an end to any further debate about what might cause it. Watch below:

Posting on TikTok, Dr Karan Raj, explained all. Well - kind of.

Filming himself, he said: "What is déjà vu?"

He repeated: "What is déjà vu?"

That'll be a joke, there. Very clever.

He continued: "It's a glitch in your brain. It's when a new short term memory gets accidentally stored in the long term memory - so it feels like it's happened before, because our brain is telling us it's an old memory."

He used a very technical term to add: "It's just sloppy admin by your brain."

Ironically, I'm getting déjà vu while writing this. It's almost as if we've been promised explanations before, many times - but there are many theories.

It affects somewhere between two-thirds and four-fifths of all people and has fascinated scientists over the years. However, they remain divided as to the cause.

Some experts believe it originates in the medial temporal lobes of the brain, which control long-term memory - however they are unable to study the phenomenon deeply because déjà vu, by its nature, is fleeting and brief.

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It cannot be recorded or tracked, as it just happens and then goes away almost immediately. You'd have to be hooked up to a set of instruments that monitor brain signals for a long time and hope they would be able to register what's going on upstairs when déjà vu strikes.

Scientists have also looked at epilepsy to see whether it holds the key to déjà vu.

Seizures also begin in the medial temporal lobe, and some researchers, according to The Conversation, reckon that they could somehow be linked. It is possible to study the growth of seizures - which are essentially electrical overloads in the brain - and track them as they pass through the brain.

Through this theory, these academics believe that déjà vu is also an electrical overload, stimulated in the rhinal cortices portion of the brain and then impacted upon the medial temporal lobe. This would mean that a false signal is sent, implying that the brain has seen something before, even when it hasn't.

Another theory holds that déjà vu occurs due to a failure of memory.

Topics: Science, Interesting

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. She spent a few years working on festivals and events before joining LADbible. In her spare time, Amelia likes music and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

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