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Deja vu, science or magic?

Posted at August 21, 2010 | By : | Categories : Random | Comments Off

Spoiler alert: science.  Also, fascinating and another reminder 0f how we are prisoners of our own perception (and it’s limitations):

When these cooperating processes get out of sync, we can experience déjà vu, the intense and often disconcerting feeling that a situation is familiar even though it has never happened before. This feeling can occur when a brand-new situation is very similar to other events stored in our memory. For example, a Texas airport may seem vaguely familiar to you even though you have never been to Texas. It is possible the airport is strikingly similar to a single event stored in memory—perhaps you recently saw the airport in a movie or magazine. It is also possible that many memories of visiting similar airports create the sensation that you have been to this one. Déjà vu is a stronger version of this kind of memory error.

via What is going on in the brain when we experience déjà vu?: Scientific American.

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