Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Research Staff Scientist at the Cognitive and Affective Neuroimaging section of the Center for Biomedical Imaging affiliated to the University of Geneva. I work at the research MRI located at the Brain and Behaviour Laboratory facility (BBL) where I do my own research and help other researchers to perform their experiments. Research interests: lifespan cognitive development and pathology, effects of non-pharmacological (eg. music, sport etc.) and neurotechnology interventions (eg. neurofeedback, brain stimulation) on brain plasticity and behavioral development, multimodal brain magnetic resonance imaging.
CIBM Core Member, MRI UNIGE Cognitive and Affective Neuroimaging Section, Brain and Behaviour Laboratory - 3T MRI research with children, adolescents, adults, older adults, and patients at the Brain and Behavioral Laboratory (BBL) facility, scientific advisor for experimental design and analyses - 7T MRI experimental design development and data analysis
- Countervail Cognitive Impairement (co-PI, collaboration with HUG, CHUV, UNIGE, Haute école de Travail social): this randomised controlled trial aims to determine if 2 specifically developed innovative behavioural non-medical experimental interventions over 6 months, i.e. intensive musical practice and psychomotor interventions in small groups may have an important societal impact, via the reduction or stabilisation of cognitive, sensorimotor and cerebral decline, in mild cognitive impairment patients compared to a passive control group, composed of healthy matched controls. Mild Cognitive Impairment represents a cognitive state between normal aging and dementia, with a minor age-related loss of cognitive ability that does not importantly impact daily life functioning. One or several cognitive domains are affected. Funding: Alzheimer Schweiz - Train the Brain with Music (2018-2022): I coordinated and contributed to the development of this multisite neuroscience research project in 150 people (Geneva-Hanover). This randomised control trial combines protocolled music practice in elderly people with cutting-edge neuroimaging and behavioral approaches, comparing two types of musical education (piano practice vs. active listening), against age-related cognitive decline. Funding: FNS, DFG
I did my second post-doctoral fellowship with Prof. Narly Golestani at the Brain and Language Laboratory on dyslexia brain correlates and relationships with compensation. I evaluated morphometry, intra-cortical myelin at ultra-high field (7T MRI) and relationships with behavior in 40 participants (20 dyslexic participants). We acquired the data at the 7 T MRI located at CIBM (EPFL campus).
Project: LANGPRIMATE; Supervisor: Dr. Adrien Meguerditchian (Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive UMR 7290 CNRS AMU). This project aimed to assess the relationships between the motor system, the communication and their implications in the evolution of language and the predominance of right-handed humans thanks to a comparative approach between human primates and non human primates. For that purpose, we build a database constituted of 100 baboon individuals. During this post-doctoral stay I acquired MRI data in olive baboons (Papio anubis), preprocessed and analyzed anatomical data including delineating a region of interest over a hundred brains (planum temporale), assessed relationships between laterality of communicative gestures and the planum temporale asymmetry, computed a high-resolution brain template of the baboon and its anatomical atlas.
In 2013 in addition to my last year of PhD, I managed social networks (twitter, facebook, instagram) for i- Share (Internet-based Students and HeAlth Research Entreprise), an on-going 30,000 student cohort including 2,000 MRI - www.i-share.fr