RESEARCH

 

MOTOR IMAGERY

Motor imagery consists in imagining an action without any movements. Current theories consider a functional equivalence between an imagined movement and its imagined counterpart: in most of the situations, it takes the same amount of time to perform both, and activates very similar neural circuits. Motor imagery can also predict the sensory consequences of a movement, even without sensory feedback.

I have recently began to explore a new model, the Motor-Cognitive Model of motor imagery, established by Scott Glover. This model accounts for discrepancies between imagined and overt actions, by attributing a role to executive functions. Complex movements, or movements requiring online corrections would require more executive resources to be monitored during motor imagery, leading to discrepancies in timings reported in the literature, as well as activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. My current projects investigate this model deeper, using TMS and kinematics. 

Key papers:

DEVELOPMENTAL COORDINATION DISORDER (DYSPRAXIA)

Developmental Coordination Disorder is a very frequent neurodevelopmental condition marked by impaired motor skills in the absence of any neurological injury given a child’s chronological age and previous opportunities for skill acquisition. Despite its considerable impact on academic and life achievements, DCD core deficits are still debated.

My research investigates the hypothesis that DCD could be a majorly body-related disorder, rather than a pure motor disorder. I am particularly interested on how they use sensory feedback to correct movements, how they program movements with their hands or tools, and how plastic are their body representations. 

A new line of research, in collaboration with Judith Gentle  (University of Surrey, UK) investigates motor skills in adults with DCD using an innovative online paradigm. We are looking for participants at the moment: https://dcdmvtmmjg.web.app/. 

Key papers:

MOVING WITH A GROWING BODY

Motor control relies on the ability to plan a movement to reach a certain goal, predict the expected consequences and compare them with the sensory and motor feedback from this movement. It thus requires to be able to integrate multisensory information originating from the body but also the environment through proprioception and vision.

My research focuses on how this ability develops during childhood and how it affects the development of bimanual and unimanual movement skills. I am also particularly interested in adolescence, a period characterized by many changes in the brain, but also in the body itself: in a very short amount of time, adolescents grow up very fast, which has been linked to a certain clumsiness. My research aims at investigating quantitatively motor control during childhood and adolescence, with the hypothesis that body representations are not aways perfectly up to date with the true dimensions of the body. As the body changes, proprioceptive input can be less trustworthy, leading adolescents to favor their vision. My work particularly focuses on body representation plasticity and tactile processing, and how this is related to motor control. 

Key papers:

SENSORY INPUTS FOR TOOL-USE-INDUCED PLASTICITY

Decades of studies have shown that tools can be used as extension of our body to act on and perceive the world around us. After using a tool for a few minutes, healthy participants perform their free-hand movements as if their arm was longer, testifying of the plasticity of their body representation for action (body schema). This phenomenon is also referred to as tool embodiment.

My research focuses on the sensory inputs required for such plasticity to occur. I am particularly interested in how visual experience can shape plasticity, investigating this phenomenon in healthy blindfolded and blind individuals.

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