What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? - Michael Molina
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0:06 - 0:08Have you experienced déjà vu?
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0:08 - 0:11It's that shadowy feeling you get
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0:11 - 0:13when a situation seems familiar.
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0:13 - 0:14A scene in a restaurant plays out
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0:14 - 0:16exactly as you remember.
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0:16 - 0:17The world moves like a ballet
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0:17 - 0:18you've choreographed,
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0:18 - 0:21but the sequence can't be based on a past experience
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0:21 - 0:23because you've never eaten here before.
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0:23 - 0:25This is the first time you've had clams,
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0:25 - 0:27so what's going on?
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0:27 - 0:30Unfortunately there isn't one single explanation for déjà vu.
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0:30 - 0:32The experience is brief
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0:32 - 0:33and occurs without notice,
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0:33 - 0:34making it nearly impossible
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0:34 - 0:37for scientists to record and study it.
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0:37 - 0:38Scientists can't simply sit around
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0:38 - 0:40and wait for it to happen to them --
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0:40 - 0:41this could take years.
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0:41 - 0:43It has no physical manifestations
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0:43 - 0:45and in studies, it's described by the subject
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0:45 - 0:48as a sensation or feeling.
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0:48 - 0:49Because of this lack of hard evidence,
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0:49 - 0:52there's been a surplus of speculation over the years.
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0:52 - 0:55Since Emile Boirac introduced déjà vu
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0:55 - 0:57as a French term meaning already seen,
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0:57 - 0:59more than 40 theories attempt
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0:59 - 1:00to explain this phenomenon.
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1:00 - 1:04Still, recent advancements in neuroimaging
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1:04 - 1:05and cognitive psychology narrow down
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1:05 - 1:07the field of prospects.
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1:07 - 1:08Let's walk through
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1:08 - 1:09three of today's more prevalent theories,
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1:09 - 1:12using the same restaurant setting for each.
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1:12 - 1:14First up is dual processing.
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1:14 - 1:15We'll need an action.
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1:15 - 1:17Let's go with a waiter dropping a tray of dishes.
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1:17 - 1:19As the scene unfolds,
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1:19 - 1:20your brain's hemispheres process
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1:20 - 1:22a flurry of information:
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1:22 - 1:23the waiter's flailing arms,
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1:23 - 1:24his cry for help,
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1:24 - 1:26the smell of pasta.
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1:26 - 1:27Within milliseconds,
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1:27 - 1:29this information zips through pathways
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1:29 - 1:31and is processed into a single moment.
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1:31 - 1:34Most of the time, everything is recorded in-sync.
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1:34 - 1:35However, this theory asserts
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1:35 - 1:38that déjà vu occurs when there's a slight delay
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1:38 - 1:40in information from one of these pathways.
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1:40 - 1:42The difference in arrival times
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1:42 - 1:44causes the brain to interpret the late information
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1:44 - 1:46as a separate event.
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1:46 - 1:48When it plays over the already-recorded moment,
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1:48 - 1:50it feels as if it's happened before
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1:50 - 1:52because, in a sense, it has.
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1:53 - 1:55Our next theory deals with a confusion of the past
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1:55 - 1:57rather than a mistake in the present.
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1:57 - 1:59This is the hologram theory,
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1:59 - 2:02and we'll use that tablecloth to examine it.
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2:02 - 2:03As you scan its squares,
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2:03 - 2:05a distant memory swims up
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2:05 - 2:06from deep within your brain.
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2:06 - 2:08According to the theory,
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2:08 - 2:09this is because memories are stored
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2:09 - 2:11in the form of holograms,
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2:11 - 2:11and in holograms,
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2:11 - 2:13you only need one fragment
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2:13 - 2:14to see the whole picture.
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2:14 - 2:16Your brain has identified the tablecloth
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2:16 - 2:17with one from the past,
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2:17 - 2:19maybe from your grandmother's house.
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2:19 - 2:21However, instead of remembering
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2:21 - 2:23that you've seen this pattern at your grandmother's,
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2:23 - 2:25your brain has summoned up the old memory
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2:25 - 2:26without identifying it.
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2:26 - 2:28This leaves you stuck with familiarity
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2:28 - 2:30but no recollection.
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2:30 - 2:32Although you've never been in this restaurant,
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2:32 - 2:33you've seen that tablecloth
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2:33 - 2:35but are just failing to identify it.
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2:35 - 2:37Now, look at this fork.
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2:37 - 2:38Are you paying attention?
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2:38 - 2:40Our last theory is divided attention,
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2:40 - 2:42and it states that déjà vu occurs
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2:42 - 2:44when our brain subliminally takes in an environment
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2:44 - 2:47while we're distracted by one particular object.
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2:47 - 2:48When our attention returns,
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2:48 - 2:50we feel as if we've been here before.
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2:50 - 2:53For example, just now you focused on the fork
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2:53 - 2:54and didn't observe the tablecloth
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2:54 - 2:55or the falling waiter.
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2:55 - 2:57Although your brain has been recording everything
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2:57 - 2:58in your peripheral vision,
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2:58 - 3:01it's been doing so below conscious awareness.
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3:01 - 3:02When you finally pull yourself
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3:02 - 3:03away from the fork,
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3:03 - 3:04you think you've been here before
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3:04 - 3:05because you have,
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3:05 - 3:07you just weren't paying attention.
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3:07 - 3:08While all three of these theories
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3:08 - 3:11share the common features of déjà vu,
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3:11 - 3:13none of them propose to be the conclusive source
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3:13 - 3:14of the phenomenon.
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3:14 - 3:16Still, while we wait for researchers and inventers
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3:16 - 3:18to come up with new ways
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3:18 - 3:19to capture this fleeting moment,
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3:19 - 3:21we can study the moment ourselves.
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3:21 - 3:24After all, most studies of déjà vu
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3:24 - 3:26are based on first-hand accounts,
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3:26 - 3:27so why can't one be yours?
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3:27 - 3:29The next time you get déjà vu,
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3:29 - 3:30take a moment to think about it.
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3:30 - 3:32Have you been distracted?
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3:32 - 3:34Is there a familiar object somewhere?
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3:34 - 3:36Is your brain just acting slow?
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3:36 - 3:39Or is it something else?
- Title:
- What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? - Michael Molina
- Speaker:
- Michael Molina
- Description:
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View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-is-deja-vu-what-is-deja-vu-michael-molina
You might have felt it -- the feeling that you've experienced something before, but, in reality, the experience is brand new. There are over 40 theories that attempt to explain the phenomenon of déjà vu. Michael Molina explains how neuroimaging and cognitive psychology have narrowed down the theories that could explain that feeling you're having...again.
Lesson by Michael Molina, animation by Josh Harris.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 03:55
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? | ||
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? | ||
TED edited English subtitles for What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? | ||
Jessica Ruby approved English subtitles for What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? | ||
Jessica Ruby accepted English subtitles for What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? | ||
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? | ||
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? | ||
Andrea McDonough edited English subtitles for What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 2/13/2015.