Paramnesias (Déjà Vu and Jamais Vu)

Type: Transitory aura symptom — typically develops gradually over 5–20 minutes and resolves within 60 minutes.

What is it?

Paramnesias are false memories of familiarity or unfamiliarity. Déjà vu is an overwhelming feeling that something happening right now has already happened before. Jamais vu is the opposite—a familiar place or person suddenly feels completely foreign and strange.

What it feels like

With déjà vu, a present moment feels like a repetition of something from your past, even though you know rationally it’s new. With jamais vu, you might be in your own home or with a close friend and experience a sudden, disorienting sense that nothing is familiar. Both experiences are dreamlike and can be accompanied by a sense of unease or altered consciousness.

How patients describe it

“Déjà vu and jamais vu, the overwhelming sensations that the present circumstances or scene have already occurred or have never occurred, respectively, arise on occasion as migrainous symptoms.” — Raskin and Appenzeller

Subtypes

Déjà Vu

An overwhelming feeling that the present moment or scene has already happened in the past. The experience feels vivid and emotionally charged, though you rationally know it’s new.

Jamais Vu

A familiar person, place, or conversation suddenly feels completely unknown and strange. Your home may feel like a foreign place, or a close family member may seem like a stranger.

Related symptoms

• Depersonalization and derealization
• Forced reminiscence
• Altered time perception
• Dreamy states

Clinical note

Déjà vu and jamais vu can occasionally signal temporal lobe epilepsy rather than migraine aura. If these experiences occur frequently outside of migraine attacks or are accompanied by other neurological symptoms, seek medical evaluation.

If this is the first time you experience these symptoms, or they feel different from previous episodes, seek medical evaluation to rule out other causes.