Déjà vu
the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before
Déjà vu ( DAY-jah-VOO, -VEW, French: [deʒa vy] ; "already seen") is the phenomenon of feeling like one has lived through the present situation in the past. It is an illusion of memory whereby—despite a strong sense of recollection—the time, place, and context of the "previous" experience are uncertain or impossible. Approximately two-thirds of surveyed populations report experiencing déjà vu at least one time in their lives. The phenomenon manifests occasionally as a symptom of seizure auras, and some researchers have associated chronic or frequent "pathological" déjà vu with neurological or psychiatric illness. Experiencing déjà vu has been correlated with higher socioeconomic status, better educational attainment, and lower ages. People who travel often, frequently watch films, or frequently remember their dreams are also more likely to report experiencing déjà vu than others.
History
The term was first used in 1876 by Émile Boirac, a French philosopher whose book L'avenir des sciences psychiques (lit. 'The Future of the Psychic Sciences') included the sensation of déjà vu. Déjà vu has been presented by Émile as a reminiscence of memories, "These experiments have led scientists to suspect that déjà vu is a memory phenomenon. We encounter a situation that is similar to an actual memory but we can’t fully recall that memory." This evidence, found by Émile Boirac, helps the public understand what déjà vu can entail on the average brain. It was also stated by Boirac, "Our brain recognizes the similarities between our current experience and one in the past ...
The public source identifies “Déjà vu” as the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Déjà, phenomenon and feeling.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q158103. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1876.
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This entry incorporates text from “Déjà vu” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.