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Déjà vu, French for "already seen," is the sensation of feeling eerily familiar with a newly encountered object or situation. It's that slightly jarring state of mind that can be triggered by any number of stimuli: a photograph, a phrase, a hand gesture. The sense that you've been here before. Due to its ephemeral nature, there's very little scientific research on déjà vu. Although over 70% of people report having experienced the unsettling phenomenon, it does appear to affect people aged 15 through 25 more than any other age group. And according to How Stuff
Works, it has been associated with temporal-lobe epilepsy. Some epileptics have reported feelings of deja vu that occur prior to and even during seizures. Theories abound as to the cause of déjà vu. Simple wish fulfillment? A cerebral cross-wiring that confuses the present with the past? A pre-existing anxiety acting out? The subject is obviously still ripe for scientific and artistic exploration. Maybe time will yield an answer.
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