The amygdala also recognizes expressions the expressions on people's faces. When we are talking to someone, we can recognize their expressions and change the way we are talking to them just as quickly as we recognize danger.

Words can often seem dangerous to the one hearing them. "we're thinking of letting you go." "I've been thinking that our relationship is holding me back." "You are under arrest." 

*Phrases like these need instant, appropriate responses, and the amygdala is specialized to provide them.

 For example, one function it participates in, the maintenance of the sense of self, is repeated 40 times per second.  Each instance of the self is able to manifest a new emotional response, but only if circumstances have changed. Every 25 milliseconds. In fact, the duration of the 'present' in neurological terms is so brief that we don't experience it so much as remember it.

The next level could be called 'being around here-just about now.'  Short term-memory deals in periods of a few minutes. Its mostly based in the hippocampus. We know this because problems with the hippocampus, often lead to severe short-term memory problems.

It helps us to stay oriented in time. There have been a few people who have lost all hippocampal functions, and they are unable to remember anything that happened after their brain problems began.

Humans are a linguistic species, and an intensely social one. We relate to each other through words. We have conversations. In order to do this, we have to be able to remember what people say to us.

We also have to be to think about it long enough to be able to respond to it. We have to remember what we have just finished doing in order not to have to do it again.

Then there is long-term memory. Its 'seated' in the surface of the brain, along the bottom of the temporal lobes. The area has been called the parahippocampal cortex, and its very closely connected to the hippocampus.

Ordinarily, there is a fairly seamless integration of the past, present and the future. In simple terms, we experience something in the present, compare it to similar experiences in the past, and decide how we will respond.

The time frame can be very brief; even a few seconds. Once in a while, though, there can be too much communication between short-term and long-term memories. When this happens, then the present can feel like the past. 

 *If perceptions from the present are shunted through the parts of the brain that process memories from the past, those perceptions will feel like they are memories, and the person will feel that they are re-living a moment stored in long-term memory. 

*There is another experience worth mentioning; Jamais Vu. Its the opposite of deja vu. Instead of feeling extra familiar, thing seem totally unfamiliar.

In this case there is too little connection between long-term memory and perceptions from the present. When a person is in this state, nothing they experience seems to have anything to do with the past.

They might be talking to a person they know well and suddenly they person seems totally unfamiliar. Their sense of knowing the person, and knowing how to relate to them simply vanishes.

A room in which they spend a lot of time suddenly becomes totally novel; everything seems new. Details they will have seen a thousand times suddenly become engaging.

Jamais Vu is not so common as deja vu, but it can be just as compelling.

How do I respond to Deja Vu?  That depends on whether you enjoy it or not. Some people are just terrified when it happens. Others find it mildly euphoric. 

*As with all other altered state experiences, most people who enjoy it think of the experience in spiritual terms, and those who don't, think about it in psychological terms. I have talked to people who had it often, and found the experience to be terrifying.

There is nothing frightening about deja vu in itself, but it can happen that activity from the hippocampus, can spill over into the neighboring structure, the amygdala, which is a highly emotional structure. If it gets into the one on the right, the emotion is going to be unpleasant, most likely fearful. 

*If you have deja vu appear with fear, you might want to get some help, depending on how strong the feeling is. One of the best places to start is with an epileptologist, especially if you think you might be going crazy. Why not start with a psychologist?

Because Deja vu is highly symptomatic of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), and its misdiagnosed more often than not, usually as schizophrenia, but also as bipolar disorder, and several others.. 

*On reason for the frequent bad calls psychologists make is that TLE isn't listed in the DSM-IV, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychological Disorders. This is the standard guide to diagnosing psychiatric illness.

Because it isn't listed, its pathology isn't covered, and psychologists miss the mark when dealing with it. TLE also has a much wider range of possible symptoms than other disorders.

While most seizures of this type (called complex partial seizures) begin in the amygdala, they spread into other structures, and there are quite a number of them.

One nearby structure will introduce smells into the experiences, and leave someone a heightened sense of smell. Another will create distortions in spatial perception. Another can leave some one with overactive sweat glands.

Another can leave someone wanting to talk or write all the time. Another can make a person prone to brief, intense bursts of anger. Another can make a person's sexuality change.

The list goes on. There are also a variety of personality changes that can happen, as well. Proper diagnosis is going to be a problem, with so many possible combinations.

*When deja vu feels good, a person will respond differently. There's no need for a diagnosis, even if it is a positive-emotional TLE. In that case, it really can't be called a disorder, but people still feel that it somehow calls for a response, and it will 'feel' like a spiritual one will be most appropriate. 

*For deja vu that feels spiritual, I suggest meditation. The kind that emphasizes being present in the here and now. Deja vu is an alteration in the perception of the present moment. The two best known ones are Zen and vipassana, both Buddhist practices.

I'm not saying that people who have deja vu a lot should become Buddhists, only that these two Buddhist practices are well suited for those with frequent deja vu experiences. There are times I've thought that Jesus might have been close to these practices when he said to 'be still and know.

The more often Deja vu happens, the more likely a person will be able to stop their ongoing mental processes, and just be in the present.

Deja vu is an experience that won't go into words very well. When its happening, a person can still speak, but the phenomena that will demand their attention is that sense of the past. 

*Most commonly, a person having deja vu will give their attention to the feeling that 'this is the past!' If some one wants to use the experience to enhance their spirituality, they are three things they can try.