What is "jamais vu?"

BOSTON - While you have heard of "deja vu," there is a similar phenomenon called "jamais vu."

With deja vu, you see or experience something that you feel like you've seen or experienced before, but you haven't. With jamais vu, which means "never seen" in French, a familiar experience all of a sudden feels new.

One example is when you write down a word that you've written your entire life and all of a sudden you wonder whether you spelled it correctly. It's still not clear why we sometimes experience this psychological oddity, but it may be due to a temporary disruption in the brain pathways that link perception and memory. Or it could be caused by stress, fatigue, or an imbalance in brain chemicals.

Jamais vu is usually harmless, but if it isn't fleeting or occurs frequently, you may need a neurological work-up.

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Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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