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What is déjà vu? What is déjà vu? - Michael Molina

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  • 12,070 Questions Answered
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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.

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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Michael Molina
  • Director Josh Harris
  • Narrator Michelle Snow
Additional Resources for you to Explore
A discussion to help us understand memory.
Scientist discusses how fragments of memory can lead to déjà vu.
Brief history of déjà vu and its theories.
Emile Boirac was born in Guelma, Algeria. He became president of the University of Grenoble in 1898, and in 1902 president of Dijon University. A notable advocate for the universal language, Esperanto, he presided over its 1st Universal Congress (Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France, 7 August to 12 August 1905) and directed the Academy of Esperanto. He was one of the first to use the term "déjà vu", where it appeared in a letter to the editor of Revue philosophique in 1876, and subsequently in Boirac's book L'Avenir des Sciences Psychiques, where he also proposed the term "metagnomy" ("knowledge of things situated beyond those we can normally know") as a more precise description for what was, then, commonly known as clairvoyance.
Avatar for David Hobson
David Hobson • Chapel Hill, NC, United States • LESSON IN PROGRESS
What is Déjà vu? by Vsauce Mike with over 4.5 million views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSf8i8bHIns There's also Presque Vu (tip of the tongue) and Jamais Vu.
06/12/2014 • 
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05/09/2014 • 
 2 Responses
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Avatar for Guillaume Bardon
Guillaume Bardon • Geneva, Switzerland • LESSON IN PROGRESS
Question 4 : it's brain, not brian :)
04/18/2014 • 
 3 Responses
 / 3 Updates
Avatar for Wii Winters
Do you think it's possible to have déjà vu that is related to a previous déjà vu? For example you experience déjà vu at a restaurant and then somehow that becomes a "memory" and triggers a future déjà vu and so on and so on.
09/09/2013 • 
 10 Responses
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Avatar for Maria Jose Arpio
Do you think it possible for there to be a way to trigger deja vu in order to study it?
09/04/2013 • 
 8 Responses
 / 8 Updates
Avatar for Vignesh MK
Vignesh MK • madurai, India • COMPLETED LESSON
when you see the same thing that you're already seen before,your brain will believe and adapt that you might be in a same place for a few seconds..
01/05/2016 • 
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TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Michael Molina
  • Director Josh Harris
  • Narrator Michelle Snow

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