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Cognitive neuropsychology laboratory

ions | Bruxelles Woluwe, Louvain-la-Neuve

Research in the lab focuses on normal and impaired cognitive functioning in the areas of conceptual representations, visual perception and speech and language with a current focus on stuttering. We are also interested in the impact of sensorimotor deprivation on cognition and brain organization. Our goals are to: (1) understand the mental representations and processes underlying these cognitive functions; (2) understand how these representations and processes are disrupted when the brain is damaged or fails to develop normally and (3) apply the knowledge gained about normal and impaired functioning to the development of effective remediations. To explore these issues, we use a combination of cognitive neuropsychological studies of brain-damaged individuals, of individuals with atypical sensorimotor development and of individuals with learning disabilities, of behavioral studies, including eye-tracking techniques, transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and anatomical and Functional magnetic resonance imaging.

UCLouvain

Michael Andres
Nicolas Masson

International

Alfonso Caramazza (Harvard)
Albert Galaburda (Harvard)
Moritz Wurm (Uni. Trento)

A green future for a new type of dyslexia: prevalence, phenotype, and management.

This project focuses on developmental dyslexia. Three main types are currently recognized: phonological, cerebellar, and magnocellular. My colleagues and I have recently identified a new form, caused by abnormally strong competition between two types of neurons connecting the eye to the brain – the parvocellular and magnocellular neurons. In the lab, we are conducting behavioural studies to clarify the prevalence and visual consequences of this disorder, as well as to corroborate the effect of a chromatic filter I developed to alleviate this imbalance. This way, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of both dyslexia and the visual system

A multi-disciplinary approach to the interplay between cognition and action: From mental representation to muscle control – and back!

The overarching goal of the project is to propose an integrated approach of human behaviour that captures the inter-dependency of perceptive, cognitive, and motor processes, as it normally occurs in everyday life, in both healthy and clinical populations, thereby also offering a new framework to understand the mechanisms underlying cognitive and motor comorbidities.

Vannuscorps, G., Galaburda, A., & Caramazza, A. (2022). Shape-centered representations of bounded regions of space mediate the perception of objects. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 39, 1-50.

Vannuscorps, G., Andres, M. & Caramazza, A. (2020). Efficient recognition of facial expressions does not require motor simulation. eLife 2020;9:e54687

Masson, N., Andres, M., Carneiro Pereira, S., Pesenti, M., & Vannuscorps, G. (2020). Typical exogenous covert shift of attention without the ability to plan eye movements. Current Biology

Vannuscorps*, G., Wurm*, M., Striem-Amit, E., & Caramazza, A. (2019). Large-scale organization of the hand action observation network in individuals born without hands. Cerebral Cortex, 29, 3434-3444.

Vannuscorps, G. & Caramazza, A. (2016). Typical action perception and interpretation without motor simulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A, 113, 86-91

Publications

  • 2024
    • Journal article
      Vannuscorps, Gilles. Humans underestimate the movement range of their own hands.. In: Communications Psychology, Vol. 2, no. 2, p. 104 (2024). doi:10.1038/s44271-024-00153-x.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles. When does imagery require motor resources? A commentary on Bach et al., 2022.. In: Psychological research, Vol. 88, no.6, p. 1817-1819 (2024). doi:10.1007/s00426-023-01917-6.
    • Conference paper
      Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Automatic facial expression recognition without motor simulation. The Seeing and Acting Worskhop: Functional and Neural Perspectives (Coimbra, Portugal, du 27/09/2024 au 28/12/2024).
    • Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Automatic facial expression recognition without motor simulation. The Seeing and Acting Worskhop: Functional and Neural Perspectives (Coimbra, Portugal, du 27/09/2024 au 28/12/2024).
    • Gerin, Sylvain ; Lepoittevin, Samuel ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Andres, Michael ; Masson, Nicolas. Covert attention shifts induced by serial position in working memory. Dutch Pupillometry Symposium (Utrecht, 21/03/2024).
    • Masson, Nicolas ; Geers, Laurie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Andres, Michael. How does congenital gaze paralysis affect visual cognition. Cognition and Action Spring workshop 2024 (Brussels, du 24/04/2024 au 25/04/2024).
    • Gerin, Sylvain ; Lepoittevin, Samuel ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Andres, Michael ; Masson, Nicolas. Modulation of pupil light response by serial position of items retrieved from verbal working memory. Relations between space, language, and numbers (Tübingen, du 10/04/2024 au 12/04/2024).
    • Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. The contribution of motor resources to the interpretation of actions. Cognition and Action - Spring Workshop 2024 (Brussels, Belgium, du 24/04/2024 au 25/12/2024).
  • 2023
    • Journal article
      Filbrich, Lieve ; Verfaille, Charlotte ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Berquin, Anne ; Barbier, Olivier ; Libouton, Xavier ; Fraselle, Virginie ; Mouraux, Dominique ; Legrain, Valéry. Atypical influence of biomechanical knowledge in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome-towards a different perspective on body representation.. In: Scientific reports, Vol. 13, no. 1, p. 520 [1-14] (2023). doi:10.1038/s41598-023-27733-x.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Effector-specific motor simulation supplements core action recognition processes in adverse conditions. In: Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Vol. 18, no. 1, p. 1-11 (2023). doi:10.1093/scan/nsad046.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Galaburda, Albert ; Caramazza, Alfonso. From intermediate shape-centered representations to the perception of oriented shapes: response to commentaries. In: Cognitive Neuropsychology, Vol. 40, no.2, p. 71-94 (2023). doi:10.1080/02643294.2023.2250511.
    • Conference paper
      Vandenberghe, Antoine ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Implicit learning of other’s body abilities shapes movement perception. Séminaire LICAE (Paris - Université Paris-Nanterre, 13/04/2023).
    • Vandenberghe, Antoine ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Incidental learning of actor-specific biomechanical constraints influence perceptual extrapolation of body movements. International Convention of Psychological Science (Bruxelles, du 09/03/2023 au 11/03/2023).
    • Vandenberghe, Antoine ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Knowledge of other’s biomechanical constraints shapes movement perception. Vision Science Society (St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA, du 19/05/2023 au 24/05/2023).
    • Geers, Laurie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Pesenti, Mauro ; Andres, Michael. Low-level Visual Attributes Affect the Integration of Visual Context during Size Processing. 23nd conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (Porto, Portugal, du 06/09/2023 au 09/12/2023).
    • Houbben, Marie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Reversal Errors in Dyslexia: their Origin and their Nature. International Convention of Psychological Science (ICPS) (du 09/03/2023 au 11/03/2023).
    • Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Guérit, Charlie ; Dutrieux, Charlotte ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. The effect of articulatory suppression on speech perception originates from phonological rather than motor interference. International Convention of Psychological Science (Brussels, Belgium, du 09/03/2023 au 11/03/2023).
    • Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Patri, Jean-François ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. The effect of articulatory suppression on speech perception originates from phonological rather than motor interference. Groupe de contact FNRS en Psycholinguisitique & Neurolinguistique (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 08/12/2023).
    • Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Patri, Jean-François ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. The effect of articulatory suppression on speech perception originates from phonological rather than motor interference. The Seeing and Acting Workshop: Functional and Neural Perspectives (Coimbra, Portugal, du 21/09/2023 au 23/09/2023).
    • Houbben, Marie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Understanding reversal errors in dyslexia: The role of the magnocellular/dorsal visual stream. Annual Meeting of the Belgian Association for Psychological Sciences (BAPS) (Mons, 26/05/2023).
    • Houbben, Marie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Understanding reversal errors in dyslexia: the role of the magnocellular/dorsal visual stream. European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP) (Porto, du 06/09/2023 au 09/09/2023).
  • 2022
    • Journal article
      Vandenberghe, Antoine ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Predictive Extrapolation of Observed Body Movements Is Tuned by Knowledge of the Body Biomechanics. In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol. Vol. 49, no.2, p. 188-196 (2023). doi:10.1037/xhp0001077.
    • Geers, Laurie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Pesenti, Mauro ; Andres, Michael. Selective interference of hand posture with grasping capability estimation. In: Experimental brain research, Vol. 240, no. 2, p. 525-535 (2022). doi:10.1007/s00221-021-06264-9.
    • Conference paper
      Andres, Michael ; Aschauer, Kathrin ; Lepoittevin, Samuel ; Geers, Laurie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Distinct influence of posture on implicit maps of fingers and toes. 22nd Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (Lille, du 29/08/2022 au 01/09/2022).
    • Geers, Laurie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Masson, Nicolas. Extrapersonal space close to the body: reduced pseudoneglect next to the feet.. 22nd conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCOP) (Lille, France).
    • Houbben, Marie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Letter reversals in dyslexia originate from a difficulty to discriminate shapes’ orientation . Groupe de Contact FNRS: Psycholinguistique & Neurolinguistique (GCPN) (Mons, 25/11/2022).
    • Houbben, Marie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Magnocellular-parvocellular imbalance correlates with mirror image discrimination. International Conference of Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON) (Helsinki, du 18/05/2022 au 22/05/2022).
    • Houbben, Marie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Magnocellular-parvocellular imbalance hampers mirror image discrimination . Annual Meeting of the Belgian Association of Psychological Sciences (BAPS) (Leuven, du 02/06/2022 au 03/06/2022).
    • Houbben, Marie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Magnocellular-parvocellular imbalance hampers mirror image discrimination . 22nd meeting of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP) (Lille, du 29/08/2022 au 01/09/2022).
    • Vandenberghe, Antoine ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Perceptual extrapolation of body movements is driven by internal models of others’ body. Annual Meeting of the Belgian Association of Psychological Sciences (Leuven, du 02/06/2022 au 03/06/2022).
    • Vandenberghe, Antoine ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Perceptual extrapolation of body movements is driven by internal models of others’ body. International Conference of Cognitive Neuroscience (Helsinki, du 18/05/2022 au 22/05/2022).
    • Vandenberghe, Antoine ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Same movement, different percept: knowledge of others’ flexibility shapes body movement perception. European Society for Cognitive Psychology (Lille, du 29/08/2022 au 01/09/2022).
    • Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Guérit, Charlie ; Dutrieux, Charlotte ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. The origin of the articulatory effect on speech perception. European Society for Cognitive Psychology (Lille, France, du 29/08/2022 au 01/09/2022).
    • Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Guérit, Charlie ; Dutrieux, Charlotte ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. The origin of the articulatory effect on speech perception. International Conference of Cognitive Neuroscience (Helsinki, Finland, du 18/05/2022 au 22/05/2022).
    • Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Guérit, Charlie ; Dutrieux, Charlotte ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. The origin of the articulatory effect on speech perception. Annual Meeting of the Belgian Association of Psychological Sciences (Leuven, Belgium, du 02/06/2022 au 03/06/2022).
  • 2021
    • Journal article
      Gianluca Saetta ; Olivia Geissler ; Franziska Stauffacher ; Carlo Serra ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Peter Brugger. Asomatognosia: structured interview and assessment of visuo-motor imagery. In: Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 11, p. 544544 [1-10] (2021). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.544544.
    • Masson, Nicolas ; Andres, Michael ; Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Pesenti, Mauro ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Exogenous covert shift of attention without the ability to plan eye movements. In: Current Biology, Vol. 30, no. 18, p. R1032-R1033 (2020). doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.074.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Galaburda, Albert ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Shape-centered representations of bounded regions of space mediate the perception of objects. In: Cognitive Neuropsychology, , p. 1-50 (2021). doi:10.1080/02643294.2021.1960495.
    • Masson, Nicolas ; Andres, Michael ; Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Vandenberghe, Antoine ; Pesenti, Mauro ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Shifting attention in visuospatial short-term memory does not require oculomotor planning: Insight from congenital gaze paralysis. In: Neuropsychologia, Vol. 161, no.1, p. 107998 (2021). doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107998.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Galaburda, A. ; Caramazza, A.. The form of reference frames in vision: The case of intermediate shape-centered representations.. In: Neuropsychologia, Vol. 162, no.1, p. 108053 (2021). doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108053.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Andres, Michael ; Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Rombaux, Elise ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Typically Efficient Lipreading without Motor Simulation.. In: Journal of cognitive neuroscience, Vol. 33, no.4, p. 611-621 (2021). doi:10.1162/jocn_a_01666.
    • Conference paper
      Houbben, Marie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Are mirror images really more difficult to discriminate than plane rotations? A study based on the COR hypothesis. NEUROCOG2021 (Louvain-la-Neuve, du 23/11/2021 au 24/11/2021).
    • Vandenberghe, Antoine ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Knowledge of body biomechanics influences perceptual judgments of human motion. Annual Meeting of the Belgian Association of Psychological Sciences (Louvain-la-Neuve, du 27/05/2021 au 28/05/2021).
    • Houbben, Marie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Magnocellular contribution to mirror image discrimination. GCPN (Liège, 15/11/2021).
    • Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Guérit, Charlie ; Dutrieux, Charlotte ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. The origin of the articulatory effect on speech perception. NeuroCog (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, du 23/11/2021 au 24/11/2021).
    • Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Guérit, Charlie ; Dutrieux, Charlotte ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. The origin of the articulatory interference effect on speech perception. Groupe de contact FNRS en Psycholinguisitique & Neurolinguistique (Liège, Belgium, 26/11/2021).
  • 2020
    • Journal article
      Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Conceptual processing of action verbs with and without motor representations.. In: Cognitive neuropsychology, Vol. 36, no. 7-8, p. 301-312 (2020). doi:10.1080/02643294.2020.1732319.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Andres, Michael ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Efficient recognition of facial expressions does not require motor simulation. In: eLife, p. e54687 (2020). doi:10.7554/eLife.54687.
    • Liu, Yuqi ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Caramazza, Alfonso ; Striem-Amit, Ella. Evidence for an effector-independent action system from people born without hands. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 117, no.45, p. 28433-28441 (2020). doi:10.1073/pnas.2017789117.
    • Yuqi Liu ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Alfonso Caramazza ; Ella Striem-Amit. The effector-independent action system: Evidence from people born without hands. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A, (2020) (Accepté/Sous presse).
  • 2019
    • Journal article
      Vannuscorps, Gilles ; F Wurm, Moritz ; Striem-Amit, Ella ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Large-Scale Organization of the Hand Action Observation Network in Individuals Born Without Hands. In: Cerebral Cortex, Vol. 29, no. 8, p. 3434–3444 (2019). doi:10.1093/cercor/bhy212.
    • Book chapter
      Vannuscorps, Gilles. Bégaiement et proprioception. In: Piérart, Bernadette, Neuropsychologie du bégaiement, 2019. 2804706265.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles. L’hétérogénéité des personnes qui bégaient.. In: Piérart, Bernadette, Neuropsychologie du bégaiement, Mardaga: Ixelles, 2019, 338. 9782804706265.
    • Conference paper
      Geers, Laurie ; Pesenti, Mauro ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Andres, Michael. Contribution of perceptual and sensorimotor information to prospective action judgments. 21st conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (Tenerife, Spain , du 25/09/2019 au 28/09/2019).
    • Geers, Laurie ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Pesenti, Mauro ; Andres, Michael. The contribution of parvo- and magnocellular pathways to size processing for perception and action. . VITACOG workshop, « Cross-Border Vision of the Links Between Action and Cognition in Psychology ».
    • Vandenberghe, Antoine ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Toward a better understanding of body motion processing. Cross-Border Vision of the Links Between Action and Cognition in Psychology (Louvain-la-Neuve, du 14/11/2019 au 15/11/2019).
    • Andres, Michael ; Pesenti, Mauro ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Typical basic numerical abilities despite congenital absence of sensorimotor finger experience. 21st Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (Tenerife, Spain, du 25/09/2019 au 28/09/2019).
    • Carneiro, Sarah Pereira ; Andres, Michael ; Rombaux, Elise ; Caramazza, Alfonso ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. Typical lip reading without motor simulation. Annual Meeting of the Belgian Association of Psychological Sciences (Belgium, 27/05/2020).
  • 2018
    • Journal article
      Striem-Amit, Ella ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Plasticity based on compensatory effector use in the association but not primary sensorimotor cortex of people born without hands.. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 115, no. 30, p. 7801-7806 (2018). doi:10.1073/pnas.1803926115.
  • 2017
    • Journal article
      Striem-Amit, Ella ; Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Sensorimotor-independent development of hands and tools selectivity in the visual cortex. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A, Vol. 114, p. 4787-4792 (2017). doi:10.1073/pnas.1620289114.
    • Andres, Michael ; Pelgrims, Barbara ; Olivier, Etienne ; Vannuscorps, Gilles. The left supramarginal gyrus contributes to finger positioning for object use: a neuronavigated transcranial magnetic stimulation study. In: European Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 46, p. 2835-2843 (2017). doi:10.1111/ejn.13763.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Typical predictive eye movements during action observation without effector-specific motor simulation. In: Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, Vol. 24, p. 1152-1157 (2017). doi:10.3758/s13423-016-1219-y.
  • 2016
    • Journal article
      Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Impaired short-term memory for hand postures in individuals born without hands. In: Cortex, Vol. 83, p. 136-138 (2016). doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2016.07.019.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Dricot, Laurence ; Pillon, Agnesa. Persistent sparing of action conceptual processing in spite of increasing disorders of action production: A case against motor embodiment of action concepts. In: Cognitive Neuropsychology, Vol. 33, no. 3-4, p. 191-219 (2016). doi:10.1080/02643294.2016.1186615.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Caramazza, Alfonso. The origin of the biomechanical bias in apparent body movement perception.. In: Neuropsychologia, Vol. 89, p. 281-286 (2016). doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.05.029.
    • Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Typical action perception and interpretation without motor simulation. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 113, p. 86-91 (2016). doi:10.1073/pnas.1516978112.
  • 2015
    • Journal article
      Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Caramazza, Alfonso. Typical biomechanical bias in the perception of congenitally absent hands.. In: Cortex, Vol. 67, p. 147-50 (2015). doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.02.015.
  • 2014
    • Journal article
      Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Andres, Michael ; Pillon, Agnesa. Is motor knowledge part and parcel of the concepts of manipulable artifacts? Clues from a case of upper limb aplasia. In: Brain and Cognition, Vol. 84, no. 1, p. 132-140 (2014). doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2013.11.009.
  • 2013
    • Journal article
      Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Andres, Michael ; Pillon, Agnesa. When does action comprehension need motor involvement? Evidence from upper limb aplasia.. In: Cognitive Neuropsychology, Vol. 30, no.4, p. 253-83 (2013). doi:10.1080/02643294.2013.853655.
  • 2012
    • Journal article
      Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Pillon, Agnesa ; Andres, Michael. Effect of biomechanical constraints in the hand laterality judgment task : where does it come from?. In: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Vol. 6, no. 299 (2012). doi:10.3389/fnhum.2012.00299.
  • 2011
    • Journal article
      Vannuscorps, Gilles ; Pillon, Agnesa. A domain-specific system for representing knowledge of both man-made objects and human actions. Evidence from a case with an association of deficits.. In: Neuropsychologia, Vol. 49, no. 9, p. 2321-2341 (2011). doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.04.006.