Doyon, Julien

Biography

Doyon, Julien is a Professor at University of Montreal, Department of Psychology, Canada.

Research Interest

Study of the behavioral conditions that determine the learning of motor skills and the neurofunctional plasticity that characterizes this type of procedural memory in adult humans by using experimental approaches involving psychophysical and psychopharmacological methods in young or old subjects, studies of clinical populations (eg Parkinson's disease or cerebellar lesion) and some imaging techniques (eg positron emission tomography [PET] and functional magnetic resonance imaging [fMRI]) in healthy subjects and neurological patients. Exploring the role of simple passage of time and sleep (night and daytime) in the consolidation of two forms of motor learning and identification of neuroanatomical substrates that underlie the consolidation of these types of memory. Differentiation, using brain imaging and methods of analysis of connectivities between networks of co-activated regions, of the contribution of brain structures forming cortico-striatal (CS) and corticocerebellar (CC) circuits , as well as the dynamics of neurofunctional changes involving these two cortico-subcortical systems in the various phases of learning and recall of a sequence or motor adaptation. Comparative study of the neurofunctional plasticity observed during the physical and mental practice of a sequence of movements, and identification of the neural networks that characterize subjects with good abilities to use IM as well as those revealed during activation visual images versus the kinesthetic sensations of movement.