Thèse

The central hypothesis of this work is that language comprehension and memorization are closely linked to sensorimotor experiences. KMI, which involves imagining oneself performing a movement while focusing on the associated sensations, is already used in motor rehabilitation and could also enhance vocabulary acquisition. Recent studies have shown that associating a mental action with a word improves memory retention and semantic understanding. The mechanisms involved in this strategy are thought to be related to motor simulation processes, which suggest that a modal mental simulation occurs when accessing concepts. Strengthening these connections may lead to better consolidation of learning, particularly in the context of word acquisition. However, these approaches need to be tested within a rigorous experimental framework and applied to concrete educational contexts.
This project is based on three main research areas.
First, it will assess the effect of KMI training on the learning of new words by comparing participants practicing KMI with a control group. This method will then be tested on learners of French as a second language (L2), in collaboration with the Centre Universitaire d’Études Françaises (CUEF) in Grenoble, to evaluate its relevance for language teaching. In parallel, a psycholinguistic database will be developed to catalog the sensorimotor properties of French words, inspired by similar databases already available in English and Italian. This database, built through online surveys conducted with 1,400 participants, will help identify links between the sensory characteristics of words and their cognitive processing.
The expected outcomes include a significant improvement in word learning through KMI, particularly for concrete words and manipulable objects, as well as an optimization of teaching strategies for L2 learners. The impact of this research could extend to education, by offering innovative methods for vocabulary learning, and to neuropsychology, by exploring the role of motor mechanisms in language cognition. 

language,learning,Motor imagery,Cognition, 

 

• Read more about JAHIER Léna

There is a theoretical debate about the format and function of inner speech, also known as voice in the head, verbal thought or endophasia. Some observed variations in format can be explained by the functions of endophasia. Some researchers suggest that the auditory (i.e. sensory) format of endophasia allows us to become aware of our thoughts, to focus on them and to control our cognitive processes. Endophasia, in an auditory format, would therefore support cognition and metacognition.
However, recent evidence questions the cognitive and metacognitive functions of the inner voice. Indeed, a significant part of the typical population (2 to 6%) reports that their inner language is not accompanied by any sensation, neither sound, nor articulation or visual correlate. These individuals report not being able to mentally evoke a sound or a speech gesture, while their cognition and metacognition are functional. This mode of cognitive functioning, which seems to rely on amodal mental representations, has only been described very recently (2015). It is called auditory verbal aphantasia, and there is no test that allows it to be objectively assessed in an individual.
If it turns out that verbal auditory aphantasia does correspond to an absence of auditory correlates of endophasia, then theories of embodied cognition, which rely on internal sensory simulations, must be revisited. The aim of this thesis project is (1) to provide a means of objectively measuring auditory verbal imagery and attesting to its lack (aphantasia) and (2) to describe the mental strategies used in auditory verbal aphantasia during cognitive and metacognitive operations that, in the typical population, require inner language in a sound format.

Supervisors :
Hélène LOEVENBRUCK helene.loevenbruckuniv-grenoble-alpes.fr (helene[dot]loevenbruck[at]univ-grenoble-alpes[dot]fr)
Alan CHAUVIN alan.chauvinuniv-grenoble-alpes.fr (alan[dot]chauvin[at]univ-grenoble-alpes[dot]fr) (Co-encadrant) 

Keywords IAphantasia,Inner speech,Auditory imagery,Endophasia,Mental imagery,

• Read more about PESCI Téo

Our visual system is particularly good at recognizing a scene at a quick glance. To achieve this ultra-rapid recognition, the human visual system relies on a sparse and global representation of the visual scene, called the gist. The rapid extraction of the gist of a scene would also make it possible to make predictions on the objects of the scene, thus facilitating their perception. However, this theoretical proposition is based on studies that present the scenes very rapidly and where only one ocular fixation is then possible. However, visual perception is a dynamic phenomenon that alternates between ocular fixations on an object of interest and saccades towards the periphery to fix new objects of interest. To be rapid and efficient when scanning our visual environment, we postulate that the human visual system would also use predictions from the gist.
The aim of this thesis project is to characterize how predictions based on our knowledge of the visual environment can orient future ocular fixations in peripheral vision, through the development of new experimental paradigms that will involve measures of eye movements. To pursue this research aim, we identified three research operations. Operation 1 aims to study how predictions from the context (gist) of a scene influence gaze orientation in peripheral vision when visual processing needs to be rapid. Operation 2 concerns the free and more natural exploration of scenes and aims to study how the predictions that can be generated during an eye fixation influence the following eye fixation. Operation 3 aims to study how real-time changes in knowledge about a scene (and therefore the resulting predictions) influence scene exploration. For each operation, we will conduct several behavioral studies where we will measure eye movements (duration of eye fixations, latency/duration and amplitude of saccades, etc.) using an Eyelink 1000 eye tracker (SR Research).
This project is based on the collaboration between Carole Peyrin (DR2 CNRS at LPNC) and Nathalie Guyader (MCF at GIPSA-lab). It will contribute to improving the cognitive models of visual perception developed by the LPNC, and the models of signal processing and eye movements developed by the GIPSA-lab.

Supervisors :
Carole PEYRIN carole.peyrinuniv-grenoble-alpes.fr (carole[dot]peyrin[at]univ-grenoble-alpes[dot]fr)
Louise KAUFFMANN louise.kauffmanngmail.com (louise[dot]kauffmann[at]gmail[dot]com) (Co-encadrant)

Keywords : Eye movements,Visual perception,Predictive mechanisms,

• Read more about CARREZ-CORRAL Clara

Our visual system is particularly good at recognizing a scene at a quick glance. To achieve this ultra-rapid recognition, the human visual system relies on a sparse and global representation of the visual scene, called the gist. The rapid extraction of the gist of a scene would also make it possible to make predictions on the objects of the scene, thus facilitating their perception. However, this theoretical proposition is based on studies that present the scenes very rapidly and where only one ocular fixation is then possible. However, visual perception is a dynamic phenomenon that alternates between ocular fixations on an object of interest and saccades towards the periphery to fix new objects of interest. To be rapid and efficient when scanning our visual environment, we postulate that the human visual system would also use predictions from the gist.
The aim of this thesis project is to characterize how predictions based on our knowledge of the visual environment can orient future ocular fixations in peripheral vision, through the development of new experimental paradigms that will involve measures of eye movements. To pursue this research aim, we identified three research operations. Operation 1 aims to study how predictions from the context (gist) of a scene influence gaze orientation in peripheral vision when visual processing needs to be rapid. Operation 2 concerns the free and more natural exploration of scenes and aims to study how the predictions that can be generated during an eye fixation influence the following eye fixation. Operation 3 aims to study how real-time changes in knowledge about a scene (and therefore the resulting predictions) influence scene exploration. For each operation, we will conduct several behavioral studies where we will measure eye movements (duration of eye fixations, latency/duration and amplitude of saccades, etc.) using an Eyelink 1000 eye tracker (SR Research).
This project is based on the collaboration between Carole Peyrin (DR2 CNRS at LPNC) and Nathalie Guyader (MCF at GIPSA-lab). It will contribute to improving the cognitive models of visual perception developed by the LPNC, and the models of signal processing and eye movements developed by the GIPSA-lab.

Supervisor :
Carole PEYRIN, DR CNRS au LPNC carole.peyrinuniv-grenoble-alpes.fr (carole[dot]peyrin[at]univ-grenoble-alpes[dot]fr)
Nathalie GUYADER, MCF UGA au GIPSA-Lab nathalie.guyadergipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr (nathalie[dot]guyader[at]gipsa-lab[dot]grenoble-inp[dot]fr)

Keywords : Eye movements,Visual perception,Predictive mechanisms,

• Read more about APRILE Eva

The current project aims at developing a method that can stimulate different brains region according to behavioral or physiological observable. The ultimate goal will be to develop the close-loop method. Closed-loop methods are based on the detection of a specific signature in EEG (or other physiological or behavioral measurements), the fast computation of a reliable indicator of the signature and the triggering of an event which could be a TMS pulse or a modified visual stimulation.
We evaluate the robustness and the speed of such methods and develop new
indicators of local and distal excitability that will be simple, robust, and computable within short delays. The second step will be to develop a model-selected marker that can trigger events for either a specific pattern of neurostimulation or a specific perturbation of the visual stimulus display. Each
step will be validated offline at first, and then each indicator (trigger) will be estimated and computed online.

Supervisors :

• Alan CHAUVIN - alan.chauvinuniv-grenoble-alpes.fr (alan[dot]chauvin[at]univ-grenoble-alpes[dot]fr)
• Ronald PHLYPO - ronald.phlypogipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr (ronald[dot]phlypo[at]gipsa-lab[dot]grenoble-inp[dot]fr)

Keywords : Robotized TMS,Closed-loop EEG,Visual perceptual decision making,multistable visual perception,

• Read more about VARMAGHANI Sina

Ledoux's (1998) model is an influential theory of the visual neurocognitive processing of fear in humans. It proposes that the amygdala is a processing hub for fear-related stimuli and that a subcortical pathway involving the superior colliculi (SC), the pulvinar (PUL) and the amygdala (AMY) transmits coarse information faster than the cortex would transmit fine visual features. This pathway is thought to receive magnocellular information from the retina, i.e. achromatic information composed of low spatial frequencies, sensitive to luminance contrasts and to movements. However, the elements that led to the creation of this model come from studies carried out on auditory fear conditioning in rodents and from the neuroanatomy of the macaque monkey. Applying such a model to humans in the absence of any certainty as to the pathways involved remains risky, and it is therefore necessary to assess its plausibility. The existence of patients suffering from affective blindness (i.e. capable of perceiving emotions in the absence of an explicit description) demonstrates that striated visual pathways are not necessary for correct categorisation of facial emotions, suggesting the existence of alternative visual pathways. However, the majority of the studies conducted in humans suffer from several biases.
Firstly, in patients diagnosed as having affective blindsight, the subcortical pathways identified in neuroimaging and electrophysiology studies are likely to be the result of brain plasticity phenomena and may therefore not be as significant as in non-brain-injured individuals. Secondly, the study methods used in non-brain-injured individuals are mainly correlational and therefore do not allow causal inferences to be made about the involvement of the SC-PUL-AMY pathway in threat processing. In other words, while the hypothesis that an activation of the pathway to the amygdala is correlated with the correct classification of expressions of fear is permitted, it remains impossible to affirm that this pathway is indeed at the basis of this processing or that it is necessary for it. In addition, results obtained by the Brisbane team in TN patient with affective blindsight could call into question the usefulness of Ledoux's (1998) subcortical pathway and its early activation during the processing of fear-related stimuli. Scalp EEG electrophysiological recordings of TN have shown that the right anterior frontal regions can activate before the amygdala, which is thought to activate very early in front of frightened faces. Furthermore, it has recently been proposed that contrast equalisation may influence studies designed to differentiate the influence of spatial frequencies on the classification of threat-related stimuli.
To this end, we propose, in the first part, to study the effect of contrast equalisation and of spatial frequencies on the categorisation of expressions of fear vs. expressions of joy using EEG and fMRI data. Secondly, we propose to conduct a series of experiments using ecological emotional scenes instead of emotional facial expressions. Indeed, it is likely that arousal is a stronger determinant of the response of the amygdala than the emotional valence of the stimuli itself. Finally, we plan to reproduce these studies using artificial neural networks in order to study the diagnostic visual informations that are sufficient for these tasks.

Supervisors :
Martial MERMILLOD martial.mermilloduniv-grenoble-alpes.fr (martial[dot]mermillod[at]univ-grenoble-alpes[dot]fr)
Alan Pegna a.pegnauq.edu.au (a[dot]pegna[at]uq[dot]edu[dot]au) (Codirection)
Nathalie GUYADER nathalie.guyadergipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr (nathalie[dot]guyader[at]gipsa-lab[dot]grenoble-inp[dot]fr) (Co-encadrant) et
Frédéric DUTHEIL frederic.dutheiluca.fr (frederic[dot]dutheil[at]uca[dot]fr)(Co-encadrant)

Keywords : A subcortical route to the amygdala

• Read more about SENANT Quentin

In this PhD project, we are interested in pathophysiological alterations of consciousness flow that are brutally interfering with the patient’s interactions with the world. Moreover, because of their critical implications for consciousness flow, we are interested in the neurocognitive dynamism constituting attentional modulations. To do so, we are working with a neurological, pediatric population suffering from childhood absence epilepsy (CAE). This specific population presents with abrupt and transitive alterations of consciousness and attentional deficits. CAE is classified in the group of idiopathic generalized epilepsy. The actual dominant hypothesis proposes a neurodevelopmental origin to both ictal and interictal deficits associated with CAE. This epilepsy is characterized by absence seizures, which are defined by bilateral generalized spike-wave discharges associated with clinical alteration of consciousness. Attentional difficulties are very well known in this epilepsy, considering structural, functional, and behavioral studies from the literature. This work aims to identify cerebral and cognitive processes involved in the constitution of consciousness flow by studying attentional investment and disinvestment through the pathological model of epilepsy. On the one hand, childhood absence epilepsy is considered the gold standard in the study of neurophenomenology. On the other hand, this specific population allows us to study the fundamental links underlying pathological alterations of consciousness and attentional network deficits.

From a fundamental perspective, it is crucial to improve both theoretical and empirical knowledge to define consciousness flow by studying attentional dynamism. Moreover, we would like to extend our model to the grand diversity of ictal and interictal generalized spike wave discharges. From a clinical perspective, it is necessary to improve biomedical knowledge about absence seizure initiation mechanisms because absence seizures aren’t systematically controlled by antiepileptic medication and are highly impacting patients’ life. From a long-term perspective, it is essential to propose alternative care for absence seizures, for example, by using cognitive remediation to reduce absence seizure occurrences.

Supervisors :
Laurent VERCUEIL LVercueilchu-grenoble.fr (LVercueil[at]chu-grenoble[dot]fr)
Juan VIDAL jvidaluniv-catholyon.fr (jvidal[at]univ-catholyon[dot]fr) (Co-encadrant)

Keywords : attentional investment,attentional disinvestment,Consciousness flow,Absence epilepsy,Blip syndrome,EEG / iEEG,

• Read more about MATRINGE Edgar

Preserving the quality of life of the elderly, or even dependent persons, is a major public health issue in view of the ageing of the population. Indeed, physical ageing is often associated with neurocognitive ageing that modifies functions such as memory, attention, executive functions, motor functions and emotions. This is particularly disabling in the context of a neurodegenerative pathology such as Alzheimer's (temporo-spatial disorientation, specific language disorders, psycho-behavioral disorders). Taking care of people in the early stages of the disease means intervening on the first difficulties that arise and developing compensation strategies before the irreparable loss of autonomy. This is now possible by using multidisciplinary approaches combining a wide range of fields: psychology, neuroscience, computer science and digital technology.
This project has a significant applicative aim: its outcome should allow the commercialization of an intelligent digital tablet, 'Lily', adapted to people suffering from neurodegenerative pathologies. It will include organizational functions relevant to memory disorders (e.g. diary, reminder), communication functions (e.g. videoconferencing, messaging), and also cognitive stimulation functions to maintain a certain quality of life for a prolonged period.
For the cognitive stimulation, our project seeks to explore the motivational tools used in traditional video games in order to apply and adapt them to a specific public suffering from cognitive disorders, where the loss of motivation, the disengagement and the lack of therapeutic adherence is not in favor of the efficiency of the already existing remediations. In parallel, we seek to implement methods of human-machine interaction based on concepts of embodied cognition to anchor in memory key information for the preservation of the quality of life, as much as possible at home. This is achieved by involving emotions and actions as positive factors that reinforce memory processes. Our objective is to maintain traces that are subject to forgetting, and even to build new ones.

Supervisors
- Céline BORG - celine.borgchu-st-etienne.fr (celine[dot]borg[at]chu-st-etienne[dot]fr)
- Pascal HOT - pascal.hotuniv-smb.fr (pascal[dot]hot[at]univ-smb[dot]fr)
- Dorothée FURNON -  d.furnonlink-ia.com (d[dot]furnon[at]link-ia[dot]com)

Keywords : embodiment,action,memory,emotion,alzheimer disease,

Financement

Collaboration Industrielle établie:

Société : Linkia SAS
Correspondant : Dorothée Furnon d.furnonlink-ia.com (d[dot]furnon[at]link-ia[dot]com)

 

CONVENTION CIFRE

• Read more about BOUVAREL David

Macular degeneration is the main cause of visual impairment in Western countries. It is manifested by the gradual appearance of a scotoma in the macula which causes central vision loss and considerably handicaps patients in their everyday life. The thesis is an interdisciplinary and multi-centric project (Toulouse / Grenoble) which aims at better understanding functional reorganization in patients following the onset of the scotoma.
By combining ophthalmological, psychophysical, and neuronal (fMRI) measurements, the thesis pursues two main objectives. The first objective is to characterize the cortical reorganizations which spontaneously occur in patients and how they modify some of their visuo-cognitive skills, in comparison with an age-matched control group whose central vision is masked by an artificial scotoma. The second objective is to test whether these cortical reorganizations can be reinforced by perceptual learning approaches, thereby opening the door to future rehabilitation strategies.

Supervisors :

• Carole PEYRIN - carole.peyrinuniv-grenoble-alpes.fr (carole[dot]peyrin[at]univ-grenoble-alpes[dot]fr)
• Benoit COTTEREAU -  benoit.cottereaucnrs.fr (benoit[dot]cottereau[at]cnrs[dot]fr)

Keywords : Psychophysique,Scene categorization,MRI,Visual cognition,Macular degeneration,

• Read more about FAURITE Cynthia

Eye movements constitute a reliable marker of some aspects of cerebral processes. For example, the time needed to initiate an eye movement toward a face can inform about the speed of face recognition while the ability to voluntarily suppress a reflexive eye movement toward a flashed point can be used to assess the integrity of inhibition processes. The investigation of eye movements, using eye-tracking methods, appears as an attractive tool to easily and non-invasively assess the normal cerebral functioning.
In this context, the aim of the PhD project is to (1) record eye movements in a large sample of healthy participants of different age range using three visual oculomotor tasks, (2) to extract and analyze several eye movement parameters to asses different cognitive, visual and motor processes in order to identify a multidimensional signatures of normal cerebral functioning, and (3) to measure the impact of normal ageing on this signature.
This PhD project should have significant impact to develop new diagnosis and/or mental and cerebral health screening tools based on eye-tracking.

Supervisors :
- Anne GUERIN-DUGUE  anne.gueringipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr (anne[dot]guerin[at]gipsa-lab[dot]grenoble-inp[dot]fr)
- Nathalie GUYADER - nathalie.guyadergipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr (nathalie[dot]guyader[at]gipsa-lab[dot]grenoble-inp[dot]fr)
- Louise KAUFFMANN - louise.kauffmanngmail.com (louise[dot]kauffmann[at]gmail[dot]com)

Keywords : eye movements,signal processing,model,

• Read more about WANG Chuyao