DĂ©jĂ Vu
Is déjà vu a brain glitch, something triggered by the broader environment or a more mystical phenomenon. Bridget Kendall talks to cognitive neuropsychologist Chris Moulin, cognitive psychologist Anne Cleary and novelist and academic Chigozie Obioma.
Last on
Clip
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How literature has helped scientists explain déjà vu
Duration: 01:07
Chapters
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Chris Moulin
Is déjà vu a glitch in brain? Chris Moulin thinks it is.
Duration: 07:17
Anne Cleary
How memory can be an important component of déjà vu
Duration: 12:02
60 Second Idea (Chris Moulin)
Remembering the dead. A kind of âfacebookâ for loved ones whoâve passed away.
Duration: 03:16
Chigozie Obioma
How déjà vu is important in literature and some African societies.
Duration: 14:43
Chris Moulin
Dr Chris Moulin is a cognitive neuropsychologist at the UniversitĂ© de Bourgogne, Dijon, France. He researches the science of dĂ©jĂ vu.Â
"DĂ©jĂ vu is a fault in a kind of cognitive process that is going on in the background all the time. When it goes wrong, it's very striking," says Moulin. âAt the extreme, patients with permanent dĂ©jĂ vu - dubbed dĂ©jĂ vĂ©cu, for already experienced - actually make up stories to make sense of itâ.
He believes that déjà vu is caused not by genuine memories but erroneous activity in the brain.
Anne Cleary
Anne Cleary is a Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the Colorado State University.
Anne thinks that dĂ©jĂ vu has environmental influencesâthat is, external situations that trigger a reaction in the brain, and that genuine (not just false) memories and familiarity play a big part in its makeup.
Chigozie Obioma
Chigozie Obioma was born in Nigeria. He now lives in the United States where he is a Fiction Fellow at the University of Michigan.
His novel âThe Fishermanâ is told from the point of view of nine-year-old Benjamin, the youngest of four brothers. The book is the Cain and Abel-esque story of a childhood in 1990s Nigeria and deals with themes of familiarity, repetition and memory.
Chigozie is interested in deja vu both as a writer and from the perspective of his Nigerian heritage.
Sixty Second Idea to Change the World
Chris Moulin wants to preserve memories of friends and family.
âWe have long thought that memory is the storehouse of our identity: we are our memory. But what about other peopleâs lives?  How do we best remember somebody else? This question is never more important than for our friends and family who have died.  I think that memory research and technology has a lot to contribute to how we can better remember someone elseâ.Â
Broadcasts
- Mon 30 Mar 2015 01:05GMT±«Óătv World Service Online
- Tue 31 Mar 2015 08:05GMT±«Óătv World Service Online
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