WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Most people have experienced déjà vu, the strange sensation that an event is repeating itself. These fleeting impressions usually last no more than a few seconds. But for a small number of people, chronic déjà vu can make life a daily rerun, a frightening reality not unlike the movie "Groundhog Day." Chris Moulin, a lecturer in cognitive neuropsychology at the University of Leeds in England, has embarked on the first study ever conducted on chronic déjà vu, with the hope of demystifying this unusual condition. Moulin spoke to UPI about the challenges and intrigue of working with patients who claim they've seen it all before.
Q. Why did you decide to study déjà vu?
A. I was working in a clinic, and a man came along and said he had déjà vu. When we wrote to him and said for him to come to the memory clinic, he wrote back and said he's already been to the memory clinic and met me.
Q. Is there a reason why no one else has tackled it?
A. There wasn't the right kind of presentation to the right people. Now, we're illuminating how many people there are with similar sensations. Every time there's a bit of media, we have another person who gets in touch, who says I have exactly that problem. It's about asking the right questions.
One of the most telling ones is asking a person if they've stopped watching TV or stopped reading newspapers. They stop because they say they've already seen it. We often deal with older adults who are also dealing with Alzheimer's -- but this is the opposite of forgetfulness.
Q. How many people have chronic déjà vu?
A. We know of about 10 people in this country, we know of one in Canada, one in Japan, and as I say, every time this gets exposure, we turn up one new person. We're hoping that by having this work summarized again, it will attract more people to us.
Q. What's life like for a chronic déjà vu sufferer?
A. They tend to be apathetic and withdraw from activities. They can be quite restless, and there's not much enjoyment. They stop watching TV -- they're frustrated because they know what's going to happen next in TV programs and news events. They say, "I predicted that." It's pretty difficult as there's no déjà vu checklist when you go to see the family doctor.
Q. Do people ever report being clairvoyant?
A. Yes. At first it's a fun thing, but it's scary when people are claiming clairvoyance. People are also worried about what they've got. Helping these people can give them knowledge. We've had a person say her husband found money on the street, and she told him, "I knew you were going to find it today." Supernatural things are reported as well; one of the women felt like she could predict the future.
Q. Is it a mental illness?
A. It's a memory disorder, secondary to something common like Alzheimer's or dementia. It's difficult to diagnose most of the people, and it mostly affects older people. For younger people it tends to come and go, not as clear, and it could be secondary to medications they are taking.
There are also people with delusional states who present these symptoms; people with schizophrenia. But our people don't have delusions, because these sensations don't impact other parts of their lives, just their memory. If you treat them with medicine to treat delusions, their sensations don't disappear.
Q. What causes it?
We've got a theory of why it happens. We think it is cell loss in the temporal lobes, the portion (of the brain) behind the ears that leads into the center of brain. It's a very important area for memory. There's a rare condition called temporal lobe epilepsy, when you have an electrical storm in the temporal lobes. In this condition you often get a seizure when you get déjà vu.
It's also the part of brain involved in recollection. (For déjà vu sufferers), this part of the brain is overactive and probably not controlled well enough, giving rise to the erroneous sensation that patients are remembering when they are really experiencing things for the first time.
It's not the same déjà vu you or I have. They get déjà vu from more bizarre occurrences in life. One man I met said I'd visited him before and he knew me, and he said I had come on this exact same day last year. The more specific information is what they remember. For us, déjà vu might be more bland, boring things. That's why it's striking and that's why we're illuminating what déjà vu is.
Q. How is the study conducted?
A. We do neuropsychological tests and administer lists of words and pictures. It's basically just interviewing. You show them words they've never seen before, say "apple, tree, dog," then give the test again but also include the word "flower." When you show them "flower," they say "I've seen that before." If I ask them how they know "flower" was mentioned before, they invent a story, such as they had thought of the lovely flowers on their table at home. They make up justifications for it.
When we have sensations of remembering something, it's very powerful, and we can't help but act on them. It's easier to invent information to support the feeling you're getting than to say, "No, the feeling must be wrong."
One guy we've tested in depth, who had only one cassette player, thought he had already bought (a second) cassette player. After lots of persuasion and reasoning, his wife made him sign a statement that in fact he had never bought (another) one. The next day he woke up determined to find the second cassette player. When she showed him the statement, he said it must be a forgery. He would rather believe his sensations than a signed statement.
Q. Why is it important to unlock the secrets of déjà vu?
A. They're out there, so we need to understand them better to give them care and work difficulties out. We need to shed some light on what déjà vu is.
Q. Are treatments available?
A. People on Alzheimer's who are put on medication see their memory improve somewhat, but it doesn't get rid of déjà vu. We're also experimenting with trying to get (chronic déjà vu patients) to do two things at once. We have a woman who won't watch TV, so we ask her to do knitting at the same time. The idea is, she won't have the mental energy to generate the sensation of remembering.
Q. Do you ever get the feeling you've done this work before?
A. (Laughs.) I have to do a lot of scientific presentations on déjà vu, and it's always the same thing, people ask me if this is a talk you've heard before. I'm no stranger to the déjà vu jokes. That's the fun side, and it's good because it's such gripping and interesting work.
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