The laboratory
The LaPsyDÉ
UMR CNRS 8240
Paris Cité University
The laboratory currently has more than thirty teacher-researchers, researchers, post-doctoral fellows and doctoral students working on the cognitive, socio-emotional and cerebral mechanisms involved in the development and academic learning of children, adolescents and young adults. The laboratory's researchers are studying the role of high-level mechanisms (attention, executive functions and in particular inhibition, metacognition, self-control and emotional regulation) in the learning of oral and written language (reading) and mathematics, reasoning, decision making, visual categorization, creativity and information evaluation (fake news and conspiracy). The laboratory's research also aims to finely evaluate the effect of social context and socio-economic environment on learning, cognitive and socio-emotional development and the brain of children, adolescents and young adults. To do this, the laboratory brings together researchers who combine multidisciplinary skills, from developmental psychology to cognitive neuroscience, the psychology of learning and behavioral economics. The laboratory is equipped with a high-density electroencephalography (EEG-hd) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technical platform, an eye-tracker system and an electrodermal response recording device. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies are carried out on two medical imaging platforms, those of the GHU Sainte-Anne (Paris) and Cyceron (Caen). A large part of the laboratory's research projects are carried out in the field, in schools, colleges, high schools and universities of the Académie de Paris, Créteil and Versailles in particular. The laboratory also conducts a large number of collaborative and open research projects where teachers build projects with the laboratory's researchers before testing them in their classrooms, notably via the Lea.fr educational platform. These actions ensure a constant back and forth between the laboratory and the classroom, and allow teachers to grasp the results of the laboratory's research and researchers to understand the reality of the classroom and the teaching profession.
The LabSchool PARÉO
Within the laboratory, the Labschool PARÉO – Platform for Research and Intervention on Academic Success and Vocational Decision-making, is the result of a collaboration between Marion Petipré, director of the Labschool and Professor Grégoire Borst, director of the laboratory. The Labschool has a team composed of 14 people, and is located on the 7th floor of Campus Saint-Germain-des-prés at Université Paris Cité. The particularity of this Labschool lies in the specific public of the students it gathers, and makes it the first laboratory school of his kind at a global scale. The Labschool PARÉO provides a unique opportunity to experiment and evaluate innovation at a University level through an action research approach. Action research projects are jointly conducted with the laboratory on topics such as educational sciences et academic success. The Labschool PAREO offers an original approach by targeting high school students - through actions led in high schools - and university students - through its PaRéO University Degree, Passport to Academic and Career Success, created in 2015. Beyond its actions dedicated to undergraduate students, both the laboratory and the labschool are collaborating on the University Degree DU Neuroeducation, an emerging field at the cutting edge of neurosciences and education, which goal is to train teachers. As an extension of training actions and action-research projects, educational resources are also designed and created in order to value, share and collaborate with both private and public partners. The Labschool PARÉO is characterized by collaborative and innovative workspaces, that create an ecosystem fostering new approaches towards teaching and learning. As a meeting place for different actors in the field of education, The Labschool PARÉO is an ideal place to develop projects supporting educational change. The Labschool PARÉO has been working from the beginning to develop a network of professionals (universities, apprentice training centers, companies, associations) committed to support academic success and guidance for all students.
The Cyceron platform
Cyceron is a brain imaging platform located in Caen, where researches in Neuroscience have been conducted since 1985. Group of Public Interest (GPI) under the supervision of the French Ministry of Research and Higher Education, Cyceron's members are the major national research insitutions (CEA, CNRS, INSERM), the University of Caen Normandy and its university-affiliated hospital, the FranÁois Baclesse center for cancer research, the National Heavy Ions Accelerator (GANIL), and the Basse-Normandie region.
In its 6000m2 space, Cyceron hosts a unique body of laboratories and facilities: molecular and cellular biology labs, two PET/CT scanners, two MRI scanners (3T and 7T) and one EEG scanner. This nationally recognized platform is operated and developed thanks to a team of engineers and technicians, whose competences are mutualized among shared services (for more information, http://www.cyceron.fr). For more than 10 years, the LaPsyDÉ has been conducting research on brain and cognitive development using the 3T MRI scanner.
The Sainte Anne platform
This research facility, specialised in the imaging of the human nervous system, is located within the Sainte-Anne hospital, and affiliated to the Paris Cité University. It belongs to the central Paris site of the France Life Imaging network. The platform, opened to the scientific community, is dedicated to clinical and cognitive neuroscience, with a high quality equipment allowing a complete investigation of the central nervous system (functional and anatomical MRI, diffusion, perfusion, and flux imaging, spectroscopy). The Centre for research imaging and education in neuroscience (CIREN) provides its expertise and the platform’s resources to the research teams within and outside of Sainte Anne. They offer their help throughout all the steps of the studies (design, data collection and analysis, outreach).