Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by Spatt, J. Search for Related Content PubMed Citation Articles by Spatt, J. Other Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Déjà Vu: Possible Parahippocampal Mechanisms

Received November 17, 2000; revised February 10, 2001; accepted February 21, 2001. From Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Epilepsy and Neuromuscular Disorders, Rosenhügel Neurological Hospital, Vienna, Austria. Address correspondence to Dr. Spatt, II. Neurologische Abteilung, Neurologisches Krankenhaus Rosenhügel, Riedelgasse 5, 1130 Vienna, Austria. E-mail: josef.spatt{at}chello.at

Déjà vu experiences are common in normal subjects. In addition, they are established symptoms of temporal lobe seizures. The author argues that the phenomenon is the result of faulty and isolated activity of a recognition memory system that consists of the parahippocampal gyrus and its neocortical connections. This memory system is responsible for judgments of familiarity. The result is that a momentary perceived scene is given the characteristics of familiarity that normally accompany a conscious recollection. The normal functioning of other brain structures involved in memory retrieval—the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus proper—leads to the perplexing phenomenological quality of déjà vu. The hypothesis accounts for many characteristics of déjà vu in healthy subjects and is well fitting with experimental findings in patients with epilepsy.

Key Words: Memory • Déjà Vu • Parahippocampal Cortex

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Bowles, C. Crupi, S. M. Mirsattari, S. E. Pigott, A. G. Parrent, J. C. Pruessner, A. P. Yonelinas, and S. Kohler Impaired familiarity with preserved recollection after anterior temporal-lobe resection that spares the hippocampus PNAS, October 9, 2007; 104(41): 16382 - 16387. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J.-P. Vignal, L. Maillard, A. McGonigal, and P. Chauvel The dreamy state: hallucinations of autobiographic memory evoked by temporal lobe stimulations and seizures Brain, January 1, 2007; 130(1): 88 - 99. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Bartolomei, E. Barbeau, M. Gavaret, M. Guye, A. McGonigal, J. Regis, and P. Chauvel Cortical stimulation study of the role of rhinal cortex in deja vu and reminiscence of memories Neurology, September 14, 2004; 63(5): 858 - 864. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Get information about faster international access.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2002 American Neuropsychiatric Association. All rights reserved.

Home | Search | Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscribe | All APPI Journals | Help | Contact Us