As many people know, a bout of déjà vu can be a disorienting experience, like a momentary hiccup that distorts reality. Perhaps a friend says something and you suddenly feel like you’ve had this exact conversation before, or maybe you turn a corner on a street in a foreign city and you get the eerie sensation that this isn’t your first time there.
Some research suggests the part of the brain that recognizes the spatial layout of a place might be activated when it comes across similar physical landscapes, such that visiting a friend in an apartment complex that you’ve never been to before could trigger the sensation of déjà vu if its design shares many of the same features of another place. Yet déjà vu has puzzled scientists and non-scientists alike for centuries, and it’s still not entirely clear what causes it, leading to wilder theories like one that suggests déjà vu is a window into a parallel universe — much like a glitch in “The Matrix.”
