What's the Science Behind Déjà Vu?

Have you ever walked down this completely new street and sworn you've been there before? Have you ever felt like you've spoken these exact words, been in this exact situation before? Well, that's called 'Déjà Vu' in French which is translated to 'already seen'. 

Am I talking about the Olivia Rodrigo song? Definitely a feeling dangerously close to it.

You may be wondering though, how is this scientifically possible...? 

Is it scientifically possible...?

Is your brain glitching? Daydreaming? Time-travelling? 

Let's find out!

The Science Behind the Déjà Vu Cycle

According to BBC Bitesize, Déjà Vu occurs when something goes wrong in the part of your brain (medial temporal lobe) associated with laying down memories and giving you the feeling of remembering stuff. This triggers a sensation that we recognize as familiarity. The brain gets hyped and signals that you've been here before. This wash of 'déjà vu' comes all over you. 

However, after some time, once this sensation passes through the fact-checking zones of your brain does it realize that it's not possible for any of this to have happened before. It signals that the familiarity was an error. This completes the Déjà Vu cycle. 

Conclusion

So, did it happen or not? 

Long story, short? No, it didn't. 

Short story, long? Your brain made a false positive, like a smoke alarm going off even when there's no fire.

So, the next time you're entering a room and feel like you've been there before, think again. The Déjà Vu hits unexpectedly, but this is just your memory system doing a matrix. Not time-travelling.

So no, you're not going mad.

And your brain?

She gets 'Déjà Vu'.