Deja Vu VS Deja Reve

​At some point in time I think most of us have experienced déjà vu, meaning “already seen”; that feeling that we have experienced whatever we are currently doing once before. This is a fairly common occurrence. Whether you believe that this just a miscommunication in the brain between memory recollection and familiarity, or you feel it has a more paranormal/extrasensory explanation is up to you. Personally I lean more towards the latter, but that is my opinion. Either way, this is a concept that most people are familiar with. There is, however, another similar concept being studied called déjà reve, that you may not have heard of, though you may have experienced it.
Déjà reve means “already dreamed”. It describes a situation where you feel you previously dreamed about a situation before it actually happens. Yes, it does sound like precognition, but there are actually a few scenarios that fall under this term that make it a little different. (side note: despite how much the government has studies the Claires and other such skills, “science” is not ready to admit to their existence just yet, baby steps). Science explains this phenomenon by saying that they believe that our brain has a special section that stores our dreams and that real life situations can trigger these memories, causing that feeling of déjà reve. According to research done in 2010, they have found evidence that the people more likely to experience either déjà vu or déjà reve are those who have “thinner boundaries” between mental states. Which makes sense. If you are more open to that kind of experience you are more likely to have that experience. They also have shown that these stated occur mostly in the medial temporal lobes, which is the part of the brain that plays a major role in emotions and memories.
 Déjà reve actually breaks down into three different types.

1. Episodic-Like  Déjà Reve, which refers to scenarios where the person can recall having that specific dream at a specific date/time that is now happening in real life.
2. Familiarity-Like Déjà Reve, which refers to scenarios when the person associates certain elements of a dream (people, places, events) to what is happening, but cannot relate these elements to a specific dream at a specific date/time.
3. Dreamy State Déjà Reve, which refers to a scenario where the person actually feels like they are in a dream-like state of consciousness at the time.

There are some who believe there is a fourth category as well that describes dreaming about something you have already dreamed about. This one happens to me quite a bit. If you are of the belief, like so many others, that your dreams contain messages (whether from guides/spirits, the universe, your higher consciousness, or your subconscious), then paying close attention to dreams that reoccur would be an important step on your spiritual journey. This is, perhaps, where dream journaling would be an asset.
Regardless of how/why you believe these happen, it is definitely an interesting phenomenon. The brain still holds many mysteries, and I believe the key to unraveling many of them lies somewhere between science and they mystical realm. What do you think? Have you experienced wither of these phenomena? Which one? How do you explain it?