Pierre Champetier

I study sleep in the context of aging and neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. My research focuses on how sleep contributes to memory consolidation and on the role of sleep spindles (and their temporal dynamics) as well as slow waves.

I did my PhD in Caen (France) under the supervision of Géraldine Rauchs, where I investigated sleep alterations in aging, their neuroimaging correlates, and the effects of meditation as part of the H2020 project Medit‑Aging.

I joined the DreamTeam in June 2023 and currently work with  Thomas Andrillon and Delphine Oudiette. My research examines local sleep in aging and Alzheimer’s disease, and tests whether auditory stimulation during sleep (Targeted Memory Reactivation, TMR) can enhance memory consolidation in these populations.

In 2026, I was awarded a 3-year postdoctoral grant from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) to pursue my research on sleep temporal dynamics across childhood, aging and Parkinson’s disease, in collaboration with the DreamTeam (France), Salzburg University (Austria), Liège University (Belgium), and the Max Planck Institute (Germany).

Selected publications

Champetier P, Hamel A, André C, Ourry V, Lacroix T, Rehel S, Chauveau L, Haudry S, Bertran F, de La Sayette V, Vivien D, Chételat G, Lutz A, Rauchs G, and the Medit-Ageing Research Group. EEG brain rhythms during resting-state wakefulness and sleep in elderly expert meditators. Journal of Sleep Research, 2025; 35, no. 2:e70161. doi: 10.1111/jsr.70161. 

Champetier P*, André C*, Rehel S, Ourry V, Landeau B, Mézenge F, Roquet D, Vivien D, de la Sayette V, Chételat G, Rauchs G, and the Medit-Ageing Reseach Group (*: co-first authors). Multimodal neuroimaging correlates of spectral power in NREM sleep delta sub-bands in cognitively unimpaired older adults. SLEEP, 2024;47(4):zsae012. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsae012. 

Champetier P, André C, Weber FD, Rehel S, Ourry V, Laniepce A, Lutz A, Bertran F, Cabé N, Pitel AL, Poisnel G, de La Sayette V, Vivien D, Chételat G, Rauchs G, and the Medit-Ageing Research Group. Age-related changes in fast spindle clustering during NREM sleep and their relevance for memory consolidation. SLEEP, 2023;46(5):zsac282. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsac282.

Science communication

My Thesis in 180s (2021)

Winner of the BrainStorm Neuroscience Pitch Competition (2024)

Podcast for children on sleep across the lifespan (2025)