Spurious link: Denzel Washington in thriller Deja Vu. Photograph: Robert Zuckerman
Stop me if you've heard this one before, but researchers at MIT think they may have cracked the mystery of deja vu.
After a series of experiments to find out exactly what happens in the brain, they're pinning the phenomenon of mental flashbacks down to similarity in neural patterns. Or, more precisely:
Researchers believe that a set of neurons called place cells fire to provide a sort of blueprint for any new space we encounter. The next time we see the space, those same neurons fire. Thus we know when we've been somewhere before and don't have to relearn our way around familiar turf.
But if we enter a space very similar to one we have seen before, a new but overlapping set of neurons creates the blueprint. When there is enough overlap between the two sets, we experience an eerie feeling of déjà vu.
So, not a spooky shadow of past lives or a future echo, then?
