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Not again! First ever case of anxiety-induced d?j? vu - health - 17 December 2014 - New Scientist@import "/css/gridmain.css"; @import "/css/article.css";@import "/css/comlist.css";@import "/data/images/ns/haas/haas.css";/* specific to this article view */#maincol {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px; padding-top:15px;}/* Basic commenting CSS*/.combx {margin:10px 0 0 0;padding:10px 20px 10px 10px;}#compnl {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px;}/* comment styles for article page only *//* form styles */#comform {margin:20px 50px 20px 10px;}#comform label{width: 90px;text-align: right;}#comform div.userhelp {margin:0 0 2px 115px;}#comform input.textinput, #comform textarea {width:300px;}#comform div.floatclear, #comformlogin div.floatclear {margin-bottom:10px;}#comform input#comcancel{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform input#compreview{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform textarea {height:95px;}#comformlogin {margin:20px 100px 20px 100px;}#comformlogin label{width: 120px;}#comformlogin input.textinput {width:150px;}#snv_health a {background: url('/img/bg/snv_health.jpg') no-repeat; color:#fff;}/* article social media */#sharebtns {width:440px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:20px; padding:15px 10px 15px 10px; background:#F2F2F2;}#sharebtns div.floatleft {margin-right:10px;}#sharebtns .stumble {margin-top:1px;}.grpTools img {margin-right:8px; margin-top:9px;}#fblike {margin-top:41px;} dataLayer = [{'visitorType':'None','siteSection':'News','author':'Helen Thomson','pubDate':'17/12/2014','subject':'health','barrierType':'None'}](function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='//www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-B92N');SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 37%MANAGE MY ACCOUNT ?GIVE A GIFT ?New ScientistHealth    Log in

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Not again! First ever case of anxiety-induced d?j? vu17 December 2014 byHelen ThomsonMagazine issue 3000. Subscribe and saveFor similar stories, visit theMental HealthTopic GuideHAVE you read this before? A 23-year-old man from the UK almost certainly feels like he has – he's the first person to report persistent d?j? vu stemming from anxiety rather than any obvious neurological disorder.

Nobody knows exactly how or why d?j? vu happens, but for most of us it is rare. Some people experience it more often, as a side effect associated with epileptic seizures or dementia.

Now, researchers have discovered the first person with what they call "psychogenic d?j? vu" – where the cause appears to be psychological. The man's episodes began just after he started university, a period when he felt anxious and was also experiencing obsessive compulsions. As time went on, his d?j? vu became more and more prolonged, and then fairly continuous after he tried LSD. Now, he avoids television and radio, and finds newspapers distressing as the content feels familiar.

There are different theories as to what is going on, says Christine Wells at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, who has written a paper on the man's experiences. "The general theory is that there's a misfiring of neurons in the temporal lobes – which deal with recollection and familiarity. That misfiring during the process of recollection means we interpret a moment in time as something that has already been experienced," she says.

Surprisingly, when Wells gave the man a standard recall test, he scored more similarly to people of his own age without the condition than those with epilepsy-related d?j? vu. An MRI and an EEG scan of his brain activity also showed no abnormalities.

It may be that his anxiety is causing a misfiring in the brain, which causes the d?j? vu and in turn causes him more anxiety. "It's a vicious circle," says Wells, who is investigating other cases of anxiety to see if anyone else has reported something similar (Journal of Medical Case Studies, doi.org/xpv).

This article appeared in print under the headline "Oh no, it's d?j? vu all over again ... and again"

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