Research
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).