• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
Scientists discover disturbing brain glitch that leaves millions of people feeling like aliens

Home> Science> News

Published 10:49 7 May 2025 GMT+1

Scientists discover disturbing brain glitch that leaves millions of people feeling like aliens

And you thought déjà vu was scary

Tom Chapman

Tom Chapman

Do you ever feel that you've had déjà vu, where you've been somewhere or met someone before? While that's terrifying enough on its own, that's nothing compared to the feeling of jamais vu. Effectively serving as the opposite of déjà vu, it's where you literally forget.

Feeling like we're having an out-of-body experience or might've been abducted by aliens, jamais vu is the bizarre scientific sensation where we seemingly forget how to do an everyday task.

As reported by The Conversation, Psychology professor Dr Akira O'Connor of the University of St Andrews in Scotland experienced jamais vu while driving on the motorway and had to pull over so he could remember how to use the pedals and steering wheel.

O'Connor and his colleague conducted two experiments to determine the cause of jamais vu. It's apparently a sign that something has become too automatic and has forced you to 'snap out' of it.

Advert

Jamais vu is much rarer than déjà vu (Alexandre Morin-Laprise / Getty)
Jamais vu is much rarer than déjà vu (Alexandre Morin-Laprise / Getty)

The passage explains that jamais vu is where "something you know to be familiar feels unreal or novel in some way." Saying it's much rarer than déjà vu, one example includes the idea that you write the word 'appetite' correctly in an exam, but look at it until it seems wrong. Musicians might forget a well-known passage of music, or you might feel like you're seeing a familiar scene with 'new eyes'.

In one experiment, 94 undergraduate students had to repeatedly write the same word as quickly as possible. They were 12 words ranging from the common, like door, to the unusual, like sward. Participants were allowed to stop if they got bored or started to feel strange, with around 70% pausing at least once because they felt like they were experiencing jamais vu.

Interestingly, most stopped after about 33 repetitions (around the one-minute mark), and it tended to happen for familiar words.

Advert

O'Connor and the team conducted two experiments (Christopher Moulin, CC BY)
O'Connor and the team conducted two experiments (Christopher Moulin, CC BY)

The second experiment had participants writing the word 'the', which triggered 55% of them to stop after around 27 repetitions as they started to experience jamais vu.

Describing their experiences, responses ranged from "They lose their meaning the more you look at them," to "Seemed to lose control of hand." One simply said: "It doesn’t seem right, almost looks like it’s not really a word but someone’s tricked me into thinking it is."

It took around 15 years for the team to publish their work, but apparently, they weren't the first to coin the idea. Back in 1907, Margaret Floy Washburn published an experiment where she spoke about one of her students showing the "loss of associative power," with O'Connor's team taking the idea much further.

Advert

So, next time you find yourself standing in the kitchen and struggling to remember how to use the kettle, you might be experiencing jamais vu.

Featured Image Credit: andreswd via Getty
Science
Health

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • 100,000,000 Americans could be infected with parasite that eats away at the brain
  • Scientists reveal the last thing people hear before passing away and it's terrifying
  • Weight loss jabs like Ozempic linked to worrying side effect that could end in death
  • Biohacker who spends millions to ‘live forever’ reveals alarming mistake that caused his face to ‘blow up’

Choose your content:

5 hours ago
10 hours ago
11 hours ago
  • 5 hours ago

    Rare earth minerals discovered on 353,785-acre Texas ranch could power everything from smart phones to military weapons

    The discovery was made on state-owned land

    Science
  • 10 hours ago

    There could be gold hiding in your smartphone as chemists find new way to extract metal

    And it's Earth-friendly too

    Science
  • 11 hours ago

    Scientists reveal the last thing people hear before passing away and it's terrifying

    It's the opposite of life flashing before your eyes

    Science
  • 11 hours ago

    Man-made object to reach a light-day from Earth for the first time in history

    Voyager 1 was first launched from Earth back in 1977

    Science