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Déjà rêvé versus déjà vu
Where déjà rêvé means “already dreamed,” déjà vu translates to “already seen.” It's even more common than déjà rêvé (in fact, a majority of people have experienced it), and Ellis notes that researchers have a better of understanding of this phenomenon than they do of déjà rêvé.
“Those with epilepsy1 who have had seizures in their brain's frontal lobes are particularly prone to déjà vu,” Ellis tells mbg. “Researchers have found that when two circuits in the hippocampus (our memory-processing center) are activated at once, we get an experience of déjà vu.”
Déjà Vu
Déjà rêvé
As mentioned, déjà rêvé is actually a blanket term that encompasses the three distinct types of déjà rêvé someone can experience, as described in the 2018 study.
The 3 types of déjà rêve:
Episodic-like déjà rêve: According to research, episodic-like déjà rêve is the recollection of a specific dream. “The patient is spontaneously able to specify that he/she had this specific dream on a specific date,” the study authors note.
Familiarity-like déjà rêvé: Where episodic-like déjà rêve is related to a specific dream, familiarity-like déjà rêve is related to a vague dream. “This is the reminiscence of elements (character, scene, or place) the patient thinks he/she has seen in a dream but is not able to relate to a specific dream or date,” according to the study authors. Notably, episodic-like and familiarity-like déjà-rêvé, induced by EBS in this study, were mostly located in the medial temporal lobes, which play a big role in memory and emotion.
Dreamy state déjà rêvé: A little different from the first two, dreamy state déjà-rêvé describes an experience in which the subject feels like they are dreaming. It's quite literally “a dreamy state,” the study authors note. “The patient describes a feeling of being like in a dream, reminding him/her of a sensation (or consciousness state) similar to night dreaming,” they write in their research. Further, these dreamy states were induced by less specific EBS areas but were still related to the temporal lobes.