ABSTRACT
Attempts to explain the déjà vu experience from a scientific perspective will be presented in the next four chapters. The plethora of scientifically plausible explanations is probably a function of both the amorphous nature of the experience and the brilliant minds that have addressed the puzzle for over a hundred years. Scientific explanations for déjà vu can be grouped into four basic categories: dual processing, neurological, memory, and double perception. The dual processing explanations assume that two cognitive processes that normally operate in synchrony become momentarily uncoordinated or out of phase. From the neurological perspective, déjà vu represents a brief dysfunction in the brain involving either a small seizure or slight alteration (acceleration/retardation) in the normal time course of neural transmission. Memory interpretations assume that some dimension(s) of the present setting is actually objectively familiar, but the source of familiarity is not explicitly recollected. Finally, the double perception basis of déjà vu assumes that an initial perception under distracted or degraded conditions is immediately followed by a second perception under full attention.
