Déjà vu directly translates to “already seen” in French. The concept of déjà vu is widely known as the feeling of familiarity in a moment that has seeminging happened for the first time.

This phenomenon is also known as source amnesia or source misattribution. According to David G. Myers in Myers’ Psychology for the AP course, the frailest part of a memory is its source, and when certain parts of the brain are out of sync, we can experience feelings of familiarity without actually remembering the memory.

Psychology teacher, Mr. Orton, has labeled this feeling as unsettling and he explains this phenomenon by describing how the brain functions.

“So as humans, we like to always be in control and we like to be able to make sense of our surroundings, right,” Orton said. “The situation that you’re entering into that’s triggering that déjà vu feeling is a result of something in your mind, that as your mind is kind of cataloging your memories, it could be that, you know, your mind is trying to make sense of a situation and pulls a memory that is very, very, very similar to what we might expect to happen in that moment.” 

“And so, it’s kind of a phenomenon in which our recall from our memory is kind of coming to the surface and we’re immediately kind of comparing and contrasting something that we’ve been through before, based with our current reality, and that feeling is almost kind of like our mind trying to make sense of what’s happening.”

Junior, Kyla Aubertin, has a more spiritual perspective when describing déjà vu. 

“I think that when I get déjà vu it just helps me, I think that the intention is to appreciate the moment more, to be like this is a moment that you should remember which is funny because I don’t remember anytime I really get déjà vu,” Aubertin said. “But I feel like that’s more the goal instead of some sort of premonition warning thing. ”

For Aubertin, these déjà vu feelings are more of a wake up call than anything else.

“When you get déjà vu you’re like, ‘oh my god, what just happened?’ And it’s like, you’re kind of living life almost on autopilot,” Aubertin said. “I can find myself going through the day or doing something where I will be like, ‘What just happened in the past, like, six hours?’ And déjà vu can sort of wake you up from that and be like, ‘you’re here. You’re here. Don’t, don’t fall out, remember where you are, you’re here.’”