Jiya Kohar Week 14: Jamais vu
Through some research, I learned that the brain does not store words, experiences, or memories as fixed moments, and instead constantly rebuilds them using neural connections. When you experience jamais vu, those connections temporarily stop functioning because memory is dependent on active processing and not just your stored information.
This is because memory has two different parts: recognition and familiarity. In jamais vu, recognition still works because you understand the word is correct. However, the same can’t be said about the familiarity part. Repeating a word too many times causes your neurons to overload, which makes the meaning and pattern of the word become less responsive to your brain, also known as semantic satiation. The brain essentially tunes out the repeated information, which results in the meaning and connection between the word to weaken, making it seem unfamiliar. Point being, perception is unreliable and heavily based on external and internal cues.
This ties into another internal argument I often find myself pondering. I find it so weird that because mood is heavily dependent on perspective, and something as simple as a word can start to feel artificial for no reason, I question how much of self perception is reliable.
Everything you experience and feel is heavily internalized in the sense that you can’t actually step out of your own perception. Whatever view you have of yourself, good or bad, it is likely only confirmed and perpetuated by your daily life because of confirmation bias. Because perception is the only real reference point you have, even if it’s wrong, it would still feel internally correct and consistent. Additionally, thoughts become more firmly embedded in your mind the more you think and practice them because, through neuroplasticity, your neural pathways are strengthened and said thoughts become more automatic. Whatever you already believe about yourself shapes how you interpret your life, so your brain corrects itself based on a system that isn’t even inherently right.
While there are some outside cues, like experiences with friends, family, and strangers, they are still heavily influenced by perspective because they are filtered through your brain. Even self reflection can be heavily biased; a system that checks its own validity is inherently not reliable. Is there really no way to distinguish between real and internal?
Hi Jiya! I always enjoy your blogs as they usually relate to what I am learning currently in my psych class. When I saw the title of this blog, I immediately got flashbacks to the trenches of my French class, but I am happy that I clicked on this post as I learned something new! The concept of jamais vu is very strange as many would think that our brain would subconsciously recognize something that we experienced beforehand. The brain works in weird ways!
ReplyDeleteI definitely have been feeling bouts of both deja vu and jamais vu increasingly over these past couple of months. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I walked into my room and felt like I had never been in the space that I spend most of my time in!
I definitely had some bells ring in my brain when you started talking about confirmation bias, as I have had some personal experience with trying to fix my mostly negative confirmation bias. Your point on our self validating system being inherently biased towards us is spot on! I mean how else were we able to survive and adapt as a people?
Great blog!
Hi Jiya! I remember writing an essay about jamais vu and déjà vu a number of years ago, so this definitely brought back some memories. What you may know, something you recognize, isn’t being reflected in your emotions, which has to be incredibly disorienting. The words losing meaning probably also relates to the Gestaltzerfall phenomenon, where staring at a complex shape, character, or word suddenly causes it to appear foreign, which also includes optical illusions or the breakdown of characters such as Japanese Kanji. While yes, your perception can be faulty, it’s more of a misconnection with neurons, not so much an issue with the intake of information. This disconnects your senses and thoughts is fascinating to say the least. Seems like someone’s brain isn’t doing their job!
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy your point on not being able to rely on your own perception due to inherent biases, which then reminds me of sensory deprivation. If your senses seem to be lying to you, what happens if they don’t work at all? When the brain isn’t given external stimuli, it fills in the holes with hallucinations and emotions, leading to prolonged cognitive damage and mental breakdowns. There’s a reason it’s a form of torture, a method of brainwashing for interrogation. Everything you “feel” can be manipulated by the brain, which makes an illusory world in your head feel more and more like a livable possibility.
Hello, Jiya! Your blog this week on jamais vu was really interesting! I’ve never heard of the term jamais vu before, but from your description, my best idea of it is that unsettling feeling you get when you write a word too many times and it feels like you’re spelling it wrong. I don’t know, I don’t think I’ve experienced jamais vu before, unless it’s like those times where you get extremely lightheaded for no reason.
ReplyDeleteYour description of how jamais vu works within the brain was incredibly informative. To be honest, I almost never click on external links attached to blogs, so your efficient and concise explanation was very helpful. As for your question at the end of your blog, I don’t really have an answer! I suppose it's just meant to be that way. I feel that life should be enjoyed with a mix of biases and reality, though that mentality is probably not the best if you’re trying to find accurate information.
I’ve personally never said a word until it seems unfamiliar to me, but I do know the feeling of seeing a word and feeling that it is mispelled or looks wrong. I didn’t know about the details you shared about the brain as well! It’s a really baffling thing to think that more conceptions people have about their brains is wrong, but the human psyche truly is a mysterious place.
ReplyDeleteSelf-perception as a whole is fundamentally biased. Everything about a person is in some way influenced by their upbringing and the people around them, and that means that regardless of what one does, they will be biased in one way or another, and true impartiality isn’t a concept any of us could achieve.