Deja vu, part two: Guest Poster Ben Hunrichs

I think there's another explanation for deja vu. I find it hard to believe that the brain makes up a false memory on the
fly, or that it's backdating your real-time memories. (Remember, our brains aren't computers - they have no internal concept of date. You can have a minor memory from a month ago that feels less current than a more important, vivid memory from years ago.) Rather, I think it's a little mix-up in the storage process. Like somehow the storage of your memory is triggering the feeling you get when you recognize something from before. Like, assume that retrieval of a memory because a real-time cue causes some neurochemical event, felt as recognition. So if storage of a memory triggered that same event, you would feel as if you recognized what you are seeing for the first time.

There's another phenomenon, known as jamais vu, where you feel as if you're experiencing something for the first time, even though it's very familiar. I bet this could be explained in a similar way.

Ben

:: Note from Alli: Ben's explanation is much more elegant, and I like its ability to explain jamais vu (which I had never heard of before, but have definitely experienced before).