Neppe Déjà
Vu Research and Theory
Table of Contents
See also the
Déjà Vu Questionnaire and
The Psychology of Déjà Vu.
Overview of Neppe Research:
Different Presentations of Déjà Vu:
 This study shows there are at least four specific
subtypes of déjà vu corresponding to diagnostic
categories and that such phenomenological experiences
may be used in diagnosis and management (N=89 ) **.
89 subjects were grouped into 2 categories (normals
with and without subjective paranormal experiences)
and a neuropsychiatric group (with schizophrenics and
temporal lobe epileptics and other epileptics) to test
the hypothesis that there are several distinct clinical
pictures of déjà vu that are homogenous
for diagnostic or nosological subtype. A
déjà vu questionnaire consisting of
screening and qualitative questions as well as a less
structured chosen-case description was used as a measuring
instrument to retrospectively evaluate Ss' déjà
vu experiences. Four distinct clinically homogeneous
categories of the déjà vu experience emerged
using multidimensional scaling and in fact they were
distributed in four different quadrants in the median
column geometry analysis. In the Normals: Subjective
paranormal déjà vu experience was characterized
by its time distortions and specific predictions component
occurred in the subjective paranormal experiment. In
the average person, normals without claimed psychic
experience, the experience of déjà vu
had a lack of memorable/outstanding features, just a
perplexity and is generally infrequent and short lasting
- so called, Associative Déjà Vu.
In the neuropsychiatric group, déjà vu
experienced by temporal lobe epileptics was characterized
by ictal and postepileptic features, such as stereotypical
other temporal lobe features with headache, clouded
consciousness and sleepiness afterwards. This type of
experience did not occur in schizophrenics, whose déjà
vu experiences were characterized by psychotic intrusions.
The data support the empirical validation of the Neppe
Déjà Vu Questionnaire, the first of its
kind. Qualitative déjà vu screening instrument
for psychosis, seizures and subjective anomalous
experience has possible valuable applications. This
framework has enormous potential phenomenologic application
to the detail needed in analyzing other neuropsychiatric
experience.
Concept of Déjà
Vu:
Neppe's empirically tested operational definition
for déjà vu is any subjectively inappropriate
impression of familiarity of the present experience
with an undefined past. A theoretical motivation
for this definition involves reasons for the rejection
of other terms, and déjà vu is differentiated
from flashbacks, pseudopresentiment, actualized precognition,
and cryptomnesia. There are 21 kinds of déjà
vu, including 10 new terms introduced by the author.
There is also a metaphorical journalistic use of the
term. There are 7 major phenomenological classifications
of the déjà vu experience: a disorder
of memory, a disorder of ego state, an ego defense,
a temporal perceptual disturbance, a recognition disorder,
a manifestation of epileptic firing, or a subjective
paranormal experience.
Incidence of Déjà
Vu:
The incidence of the déjà vu experience
is dependent on the operational definitions of déjà
vu, the measuring instrument, and the recall and recognition
of the déjà vu experience by the subject.
16 studies of déjà vu existed by the early
1980s, but the only one using adequate sampling were
the 2 studies by Neppe which also used an adequate
screening questionnaire for déjà vu. A
more adequate study of incidence should use a large,
randomized sample for the general population in a prospective
study of incidence and frequency in the individual.
Overall, about 70% of the population seem to report
déjà vu.
Ages of Déjà Vu:
The youngest age of déjà vu reported
is age 5. (two cases in Neppe's samples; one aged 6
reported by Ouspensky). This has major theoretical implications
for cognitive development. There is a complex interchange
with age and incidence based on quality of remembering.
There was at one point the idea that there was an inverse
relationship with age in adulthood but this is disputed
in one study by Neppe in the elderly.
Causes of Déjà
Vu:
There is no single theoretical cause of déjà
vu that can explain its wide variety of clinical manifestations.
Most instances of associative déjà vu
are associated with a predisposing milieu of anxiety
and are triggered by restricted paramnesia and redintegration.
The Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic theories are also
common explanations. However, temporal lobe firing and
the double access theories account for many of the experimental
and clinical features of the déjà vu experience
of temporal lobe epileptics. Also, several parapsychological
hypotheses have been advanced. Déjà vu
in schizophrenics reflects a further nosological category,
again implying different etiologies, precipitators,
and pathogeneses.
Is Déjà
Vu a symptom of temporal lobe epilepsy?
The definition and conceptualization of the déjà
phenomenon are interpreted in various ways in medicine.
The common occurrence of déjà is the general
population stresses the need for the development of
specific qualitative features for valuable diagnosis
of temporal lobe epilepsy. Qualitatively this exists.
Neppe References on Déjà
Vu pertaining to above:
Please note these references are provided as a service;
they cannot be sent to you.
- Neppe VM: Is déjà vu a symptom of
temporal lobe epilepsy? S Afr Med J 1981; 60 (23):
907-8.
- Neppe VM: A study of déjà vu experience:
thesis. Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand,
1981:1-1-588, Vol 1-4. 3. Neppe VM: A study of déjà
vu experience. 1982.
- Neppe VM: déjà vu and temporal lobe
epilepsy. London, 1982:1-36.
- Neppe VM: The Psychology of déjà
vu: Have I been Here Before?: 1-277 & I-XLV. Johannesburg,
Witwatersrand University Press, 1983.
- Neppe VM: The different presentations of the déjà
vu phenomenon: New research. 1983:1-124-139.
- Neppe VM: The incidence of déjà vu.
Parapsychological Journal of South Africa 1983; 4
(2): 94-106.
- Neppe VM: The concept of déjà vu.
Parapsychological Journal of South Africa 1983; 4
(1): 1-10.
- Neppe VM: The causes of déjà vu.
Parapsychological Journal of South Africa 1983; 4
(1): 25-35.
- Neppe VM: Genes, genetics and heritability: Beyond
semantics. 1983:1-84-85.
- Neppe VM: déjà vu: A parapsychological
approach, in Roll WG, Beloff, J, White, RA (eds.)
Research in Parapsychology 1982 Metuchen, NJ., Scarecrow
Press, 1983, pp 226-228.
- Neppe VM: Age and the frequency of déjà
vu. 1983:1-182-184.
- Neppe VM: Temporal lobe, psi and déjà
vu. 1985:1-330.
- Neppe VM: déjà vu in the survival
context. Theta 1986; 13/14 (2): 26-29.
- Neppe VM: déjà vu: phenomenological
and diagnostic relevance in temporal lobe epilepsy.
1986:1-608.
- Neppe VM: déjà vu:1. What is it?
ASPR Newsl 1987; 13 (1): 6-7.
- Neppe VM: déjà vu: 2. When and how?
ASPR Newsl 1987; 13 (2): 15-16.
- Neppe VM: déjà vu: 3. Why? ASPR Newsl
1987; 13 (3): 24-25.
- Neppe VM: déjà vu: 4. The differences.
ASPR Newsl 1987; 13 (4): 31-32.
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