Pulsar Lab

Assessing the Impact of Language on Visual Threat Detection: cTBS over the anterior temporal lobe impairs semantic processing but not visual threat detection

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The temporal architecture of decision regulation: Development and initial validation of the Decision Regulation Inventory

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Time, Theta, and Theory: A Critical Look at Recurring Cortical Rhythms

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Validation of the Competitive Attention Test: Behavioral reliability and construct-relevant associations across the lifespan

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A Cross-Sectional Study of the Development of Lateral Preference in Ice Hockey

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Perception of short, but not long, time intervals is modality specific: EEG evidence using vibrotactile stimuli

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Studying time perception with electroencephalography

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Influence of musical training on temporal productions when using fast and slow counting paces

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Musical Expertise Influences the Processing of Short and Long Auditory Time Intervals: An Electroencephalography Study

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Distinct brain dynamics and networks for processing short and long auditory time intervals

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Évaluation de l’expertise en danse à l’aide de l’équivalence temporelle

Wed, 25 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Psychological Time during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Canadian Data

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Contact

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To reach Pulsar Lab, write to Nicola Thibault: .

Department of Health Sciences
Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), Rimouski campus

Nicola Thibault

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Research

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Our research extends from the brain oscillations that support timing, attention and working memory to the clinical tools that measure these functions. It is organized around three axes.

Axis 1

Time perception

How do attention and working memory shape our perception of duration, and do they act the same way below and above about 1.2 seconds?

Methods: behavioral tasks, and electrophysiology (EEG, SEEG) in some projects. Participants: mostly adults from the general population.

Project

TIC-TAC

What does attention protect when it protects the perception of duration?

Do ignoring time and overloading working memory impair duration judgments in the same way?
How does a brief distraction disrupt perceived duration: through its similarity to the timed signal, through the expectation of an interruption, or because the internal clock is not consulted?
Does the boundary of about 1.2 seconds also separate two kinds of attention?
Which measures of interference are reliable enough to study differences between individuals?

Project

Passive perception and reproduction of sub-second and supra-second intervals: an SEEG study

Which brain oscillations support the passive perception and the reproduction of intervals shorter and longer than one second?

In collaboration with Philippe Albouy and Simon Grondin (Université Laval).

Axis 2

Executive and cognitive functions

This axis is in development. It examines how brain oscillations support working memory and executive control.

Methods: high-density EEG, with source reconstruction from each participant’s MRI, and transcranial magnetic stimulation guided by neuronavigation. Participants: healthy young adults.

Project

AI-assisted decision making: electrophysiological mechanisms

Does attributing advice to an artificial intelligence rather than to a human expert reduce the mental effort people invest in everyday decisions?

Is the brain’s central executive network less engaged when advice comes from an AI?
Do people follow advice attributed to an AI more often, and more quickly?
Do each person’s attitudes toward AI and decision style modulate this effect?

In collaboration with Steven Laureys and Roxane Hoyer (Université Laval).

Project

Transcranial magnetic stimulation and visuospatial working memory

Do theta oscillations play a causal role in visuospatial working memory?

Does theta-rhythm stimulation of the parietal cortex improve the retention and the manipulation of spatial information?
Is the effect stronger when information must be manipulated rather than retained?
Does the response to stimulation vary from one person to another, for example with spontaneous theta frequency, executive abilities or anxiety?

In collaboration with Roxane Hoyer (Université Laval).

Axis 3

Neuropsychology: developing and validating open-access tasks

This axis aims to give neuropsychologists in Québec open-access tasks, validated and normed in the Québec population.

Methods: computerized tasks, psychometric validation and norming. Participants: clinical and nonclinical populations.

Project

Validation of a neuropsychological visuospatial working memory task

Can a computerized task that measures the retention of locations and their mental manipulation separately become a valid, normed clinical tool for Québec?

Future projects will also address criterion validity for various conditions, such as mild traumatic brain injury.

In collaboration with Roxane Hoyer (Université Laval).