Remembering the Unmemorable: Group of Scientists Manufacture Déjà vu through Hypnosis

Why is it we sometimes feel like we’re re-living the past?

Déjà vu—the phenomenon where you’ve seen or heard something before when, in fact, it’s the first time—is something that 97 percent of people report having experienced in their lives. Theories and speculations abound regarding its illusory powers, but as yet no one knows its genesis.

Thanks to some university researchers, however, we may be getting close to the answer and in the process, understanding the inner workings of the human mind.

As reported in a recent issue of New Scientist magazine, a group of researchers from Leeds University set out to discover the intricacies of the human mind by inducing déjà vu-like experiences through hypnosis.

Because déjà vu experiences are ephemeral by their very nature, it’s difficult to pinpoint what goes on in the brain when the sensation manifests itself. But the prevailing opinion on what goes on the brain during déjà vu is a two-fold process:

1.) The brain begins retracing its steps if you will, searching for any cues that would indicate the experience has been done before

2.) If it has been, a separate part of the brain then indicates what exactly that experience was, determining its level of familiarity

It’s this second process that researchers have a more difficult time understanding as this second process is inherently flawed, where a legitimately new experience only feels like an old one.

The researchers set out to manufacture this second process in the déjà vu experience by showing the test group a set of 24 common words before putting them in a hypnotic state. They then placed a set of the words in green frames and another set of words in red frames.

After all 18 of them were placed in a hypnotic state, the researchers instructed them that when they saw words in red frames, they would feel as though they had seen the words before but would not be able to recall where. But if they saw words framed in green, they would remember that they saw the words in the original group of 24.

When their hypnotic state was lifted, the participants were again presented with the group of 24 words—all of them framed in either red or green—some of which were the original words, while others were altogether different.

According to the researchers, 10 of the 18 who saw the words felt strange when they saw the non-original words embossed in red frames, five of the 10 saying it felt like déjà vu.

Leeds researchers say this study shows that the two processes of déjà vu act separately, which could be a significant finding to subsequent studies on the human memory. Among the studies, why it is that people who suffer from epilepsy report frequent déjà vu-like experience.

Speaking with BBC News regarding the study, South Methodist University professor and déjà vu expert Alan Brown said that by “using hypnotic suggestion to either stimulate or simulate a déjà vu experience could potentially be a very fruitful way to explore this phenomenon.

Leeds University researcher Akira O’Connor presented the study at an international conference in Sydney, Australia. He plans on writing it for official publication in a medical journal in the near future.

Yet another example of the healing powers of hypnosis, only this time in the realm of medical research.

Steve G. Jones, Clinical Hypnotherapist
http://www.betterlivingwithhypnosis.com/