Research
Philippe Peigneux is PhD in Psychological Sciences (2000; University of Liège [ULg], Belgium). He is currently Tenure Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium, where he is also the director of the Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Research Unit (UR2NF; http://dev.ulb.ac.be/ur2nf) affiliated at CRCN and at the ULB Neurosciences Institute (UNI; http://uni.ulb.ac.be). Professor Peigneux is active in sleep research since 1996 and published more than 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals. His research is mainly but not exclusively focused on investigating the relationships between sleep, learning and memory consolidation processes, and in a wider perspective the interrelationships between cognitive processes and vigilance states, including sleep and biological rhythms, both in healthy and pathological conditions (sleep and circadian disorders, disorders of consciousness, developmental disorders [dysphasia, ADHD], epileptic disorders, degenerative diseases [Parkinson, Alzheimer, Multiple Sclerosis], …), in adulthood and across children development. A specific focus is made on the processes by which novel representations are created and novel information consolidated in long-term memory. Studies are primarily conducted using behavioural and cognitive approaches and advanced functional magnetic resonance (fMRI), Near InfraRed Spectroscopy (NIRS), electroencephalography (EEG) and magneto-encephalography (MEG) techniques. Philippe Peigneux is a member of the European Sleep Research Society (ESRS) since 2001 and was part of the ESRS Scientific Committee (2006-2008) then Secretary in the ESRS Board (2008-2012). At present (2012 – 2016) he is President of the ESRS.
Research Topics
- Synaptic homeostasis, sleep-dependent memory consolidation and interictal epileptic activity
- Sleep, fatigue and cerebral hyperactivation in MS disease
- Neurophysiological, cognitive, genetic and pharmaceutical investigations in the pathophysiology of ADHD
- Bedtime extension as an intervention to counteract the adverse effects of chronic sleep loss
- Within-sleep stimulations and consolidation of emotional memories
- Learning and memory processes during sleep: can we learn when we are asleep?
- Cognitive control and executive functions
- Memory consolidation and brain plasticity in normal and pathological ageing
- Neural correlates of the acquisition of motor skills
- Cognitive control and executive functions in typical and atypical populations
- Age-related modulations in behavioral and neural correlates of visuospatial and memory pseudoneglect