Abstract

Abstract:

There is nowadays a well-established relationship between sleep and learning and memory consolidation processes evidenced both at the behavioural and neurophysiological levels. It remains more disputed whether and to what extent these associations that have been mostly evidenced in young healthy adults are similarly present in children and in ageing, two conditions in which sleep is qualitatively and quantitatively different. Also in ageing, reduced brain plasticity might limit novel acquisitions and impact both on the encoding and consolidation phases of memory. In this talk, I will present behavioural and magnetoencephalographic investigations conducted in prepubertal children and healthy ageing, showing age-related similarities and differences in sleep-dependent memory consolidation and acquisition.

Biosketch:

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 140 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 .