#JamaisVu

A recent international study shines a light on a curious brain phenomenon called jamais vu. This condition makes familiar moments feel uncanny or entirely unfamiliar, even though we logically know them well. Seen as the opposite of déjà vu, jamais vu highlights how memory and perception can briefly misfire. The finding has potential implications for understanding everyday cognitive lapses and neurological health, with relevance for Thai readers navigating busy, modern lives.

In a compelling research development that is capturing international attention, scientists have identified a curious brain phenomenon known as “jamais vu”—a glitch that abruptly makes familiar situations appear completely strange, leaving millions feeling confused and disoriented in an instant. This startling effect, described as the psychological opposite of the well-known déjà vu, is gaining recognition for its implications on our understanding of memory, cognition, and neurological health. The revelation, recently featured in a widely discussed study, could significantly reshape the way we think about routine memory lapses and cognitive disturbances in daily life, including those experienced by people across Thailand.

In a discovery that stretches the boundaries of memory research, scientists have recently shed light on “jamais vu”—the rare and unsettling feeling that something deeply familiar suddenly appears strange or unrecognizable. While most Thais are familiar with the spine-tingling phenomenon of déjà vu, the eerie sense that one has lived through a moment before, its lesser-known counterpart, jamais vu, proves to be even more uncanny, and researchers say it holds important clues to the workings of the human brain (ScienceAlert).

Researchers have uncovered new insights into jamais vu, the unsettling feeling that something familiar suddenly looks unfamiliar. While deja vu is well known in Thai culture, jamais vu is rarer and oddly more disorienting. Scientists say this phenomenon can illuminate how our brain checks reality and prevents us from slipping into automatic thoughts.

In a study that earned an Ig Nobel Prize in literature, participants were asked to repeat simple words like “door” or “the.” After about a minute, roughly 70% of people reported a strong sense of unfamiliarity and stopped voluntarily, describing experiences such as a word that “doesn’t seem right” or feeling as if it’s not really a word. The findings suggest jamais vu can reveal how our cognitive system verifies meaning and prevents us from drifting through routine without awareness.