Déjà Rêvé: Video Explains the Creepier Version of Déjà Vu

Scientists have finally put a name to a strange phenomenon you might have experienced before. It’s called déjà rêvé, and it’s like the trippy, scary version of déjà vu. Instead of feeling like you’ve lived through an experience before, déjà rêvé is the feeling of re-experiencing a dream you’ve had previously — but fully awake.

We break down a strange study that identified this strange occurrence in the video above. Check it out to get the full low-down on déjà rêvé.

What Is the Difference Between Déjà Rêvé and Déjà Vu?

Déjà vu means “already seen.” Déjà rêvé means “already dreamed,” which describes the sensation that what you are currently experiencing is a scene, a memory, or simply a feeling from something you’ve dreamt previously. It has probably been confused for déjà vu in the past, but in the 2018 Brain Stimulation study, the authors state that this is due to lack of understanding and vocabulary around “experiential phenomena.”

The French team performed experiments on subjects to study déjà rêvé and reviewed studies from the past 60 years to find evidence of the experience. The subjects all suffer from partial epilepsy and had all reported experiencing some form of déjà rêvé in the past — often during seizures. After signing an informed consent form, they were all administered electrical brain stimulation to various parts of their brain, and any abnormal responses were recorded. This allowed the researchers to pinpoint which parts of the brain might play an active role in this phenomenon.

Not only were they able to induce and identify déjà rêvé, but they were also able to classify it into three different categories.

1. Episodic-like déjà rêve: the most lucid form. Basically, any form of déjà rêvé that can be pinpointed to an actual, specific dream.
2. Familiarity-like déjà rêvé: the blurry form. This type is associated with the sensation of re-experiencing a dream, but without being able to determine the specific dream, or when you had it.
3. Dreamy state déjà rêvé: the mysterious form. This is any déjà rêvé that is associated with the feeling of actually being in a dream. The subject might confuse reality for being asleep.

This study’s research can potentially help further epilepsy treatment and education about experiential phenomena. Ultimately, the researchers wanted to expand the idea of these strange phenomena into specific categories instead of just blanketing the term déjà vu for anything that feels remotely fishy. For more information, watch the video above. And, for more information, watch the video above. Wait. Did I … already say that?