Top 10 most mysterious phenomena of the mind

By Joan Seth

The human mind is truly a wondrous machine. It is the most powerful processor in the world, yet despite rapid scientific progress, much about how brains work remains a mystery. Throughout history, people have exhibited weird abilities and strange phenomena through the powers of their minds. In this article, we look at 10 of the most strange phenomena of the mind.

1. Déjà vu

Remember in the movie, The Matrix, when Neo sees a black cat walking by him twice? Déjà vu refers to the sensation in your mind when you know that the situation you are experiencing is brand new to you, yet you have the sensation that you had experienced it before.

The experience is usually accompanied by a strong sense of familiarity and a sense of eeriness, strangeness, or weirdness. Scientists believe it to be an anomaly of memory, giving the impression that an experience is "being recalled."

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2. Déjà Visité

This is the experience of someone who has never been to a place before, but yet is able to know his or her way around the place. All landmarks, roads, places of interest are familiar to the person, yet he or she knows it is impossible for them to have such knowledge.

It can be explained as the person having read or heard about the place before, but then blocked it out from his or her memory. Other explanations include out of body travelling experiences or reincarnation.

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3. Jamais vu

This is a truly weird phenomena. It can be considered as the opposite of déjà vu. People who experience jamais vu, report that when they experience a familiar situation, they do not recognize it. Even though the situation has been experienced many times before, they have no recollection nor any familiar sensations felt. It is commonly explained as when a person momentarily doesn’t recognize a person, word, or place that they know.

Experts believe that brain fatigue could be one cause of this phenomena.

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4. Presque vu

Have you ever wanted to announce or reply something, yet just cannot find the words to say? It is as if the words are stuck at the 'tip of your tongue'. Even though you know what to say, or you have spoken the word many times before, yet you are just unable to say it out.

This phenomena is believed to be caused by memory processes in the brain, where the brain fails to retrieve the 'stored' word from your memory.

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5. Capgras delusion

This is truly a weird one. In this disorder, a person has a delusion that someone close to him or her, either a friend, relative, spouse or family member has been replaced by a identical-looking impostor. Nothing can be done to persuade the sufferer that no one has been replaced.

Experts believe that sufferers of this condition had some brain injury or may be suffering from schizophrenia. However, it does not explain why only some particular people are not able to be recognized, while others can be recognized.

[Video of a Capgras' delusion patient]

6. Fregoli Delusion

Similar to Capgras Delusion, sufferers of Fregoli Delusion hold firm onto the belief that everyone around them are actually the same person, but this same person manages to switch faces quickly and easily, so as to portray different people at once. However ridiculous this may sound, this is an actual mental disorder.

It is believed that either brain injury or disorders can contribute to this delusion.

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7. Subjective doubles

In this case, sufferers believe that he or she has a double or Doppelgänger with the same appearance, but usually with different character traits and leading a life of its own. Sometimes the patient has the idea that there is more than one double. Sometimes the delusion takes the form of a conviction that whole or part of the patient's personality has been transferred into another person.

This syndrome is usually the result of a neurological disorder, mental disorder or some form of brain damage.

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8. Mirrored self-misidentification

Mirrored self-misidentification is the delusion that one's reflection in a mirror is some other person (often believed to be someone who is following them around).

This disorder is believed to be caused by the organic dysfunction resulting from traumatic brain injury, stroke, or neurological illness.

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9. Reduplicative paramnesia

This is the delusion that a place has been duplicated and exists simultaneously in two or more areas. The sufferer will insist that he or she is in the correct place, but in a different location. For example, a man will claim he is in the correct hospital, but in another part of the country. When pointed out that the hospitals have the same infrastructure and workers, he will say it is all duplicated exactly and the workers either work in both places or have twins.

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9. Stendhal syndrome

This is the syndrome that causes confusion, fainting or hallucinations when exposed to beautiful art or a collection of art in a single place. This usually will take place in an art gallery or museum. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world.

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10. Cotard delusion

This has to be the ultimate delusion. Sufferers of this delusion believe that they are dead, do not exist or are decomposing. This usually occurs after surviving a major accident, where the person does not believe he or she has survived. He or she will not believe that they are in hospital, instead thinking that they are either in heaven or hell.

In rare cases, some people believe that they are in an eternal state of 'dying' which renders them immortal. Treatment for this disorder is difficult.

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