Each of us has experienced déjà vu at least once in our lives. It turns out that there are varieties of the déjà vu effect.
Déjà Vécu
This is the already experienced, is what most people feel when they experience familiar events. While déjà vu is the feeling that you’ve seen something before, déjà vécu is a condition when you recognize smells and sounds. It is often accompanied by a strong feeling that you know what happens next.
Déjà Visité
The already visited, is a less common condition, in which there is an inexplicable knowledge of a new place. For example, you can know the route in a new city, despite the fact that you have never been there and could not know this before. Déjà visité concerns space and geography, while déjà vecu deals with the timing of events.
Déjà Senti, i.e. the already felt
This is a feeling that you have already felt something. It is a mental phenomenon that rarely stays in memory. Recollection usually occurs on the sound of another person’s voice, voiced thoughts or reading. Unlike other types of deja vu, déjà senti does not feel like something paranormal or unnatural.
Jamais Vu
It is the opposite of déjà vu, when somebody describes a familiar situation that you do not recognize. A person does not know the situation, even though they know they were there before. You can suddenly fail to recognize another person, word, or place that you know.
Researchers asked 92 volunteers to write the word “door” 30 times in one minute. As a result, 68 percent of the participants experienced jamais vu, that is, they began to doubt that the word “door” was real. This may be a symptom of brain fatigue.
Presque Vu
This is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon, the failure to remember something and a feeling that retrieval is imminent, although it rarely happens. Presque vu is very distracting and intrusive. People often remember one or more characteristics of a forgotten word, for example, the first letter, but feel slightly tormented trying to recollect it and relieved when the word comes to them.
Wit of the staircase (L’esprit de l’Escalier)
It is a condition where you find a clever solution or answer, when it is too late. This may be a response to an insult, a witty remark that comes to mind when it becomes useless. It is as if you were on the stairs, leaving the stage.
