HCÉRES Report

2023–2024 Evaluation Campaign

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

The Memory, Brain and Cognition Laboratory (LMC2, UR 7536), established on 1 January 2019, is affiliated with Université Paris Cité and is one of the two cognitive psychology laboratories within the Institute of Psychology (alongside the Vision, Action, Cognition Laboratory). The LMC2 has human resources that are well aligned with its stated mission. It comprises 12 tenured faculty members, including 4 Professors and 8 Lecturers, 3 of whom hold an HDR, as well as 3 research support staff. The laboratory also has 12 PhD students currently completing their theses, with 11 others having completed their PhDs during the contract period. All are or have been funded, including 12 Ministry-funded doctoral contracts, one CIFRE-funded PhD, one privately funded PhD, 9 employed students pursuing their PhDs while working as neuropsychologists in private or, more generally, public healthcare settings (AP-HP employers), and finally two international students funded through the IdEx programme.

The LMC2 has successfully secured funding through numerous calls for projects, enabling it to build substantial own-source funding (total over six years: €1.848 million; annual average: €308,000). It receives an average recurring allocation of €26,000 from the University, while the majority of its resources comes from public funding obtained through the PIA (total: €438,000) and four ANR grants (RASPUTIN, SUBLIMAE, AGING, TEMPORALITY; total: €969,000).

Since its establishment, the scientific activities of the LMC2 have focused on experimental psychology and the cognitive neuropsychology of human memory. Its research programme investigates memory processes and associated functions in healthy individuals across the lifespan, as well as dysfunctions associated with various neurological, genetic, neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. To conduct this research, the LMC2 combines a range of complementary techniques, from conventional laboratory-based behavioural measures to psychophysiological measures (EEG, fMRI, autonomic nervous system responses). However, the laboratory’s key strength, which contributes to its visibility and attractiveness, is the use of Virtual Reality as an innovative, naturalistic, embodied and situated scientific approach to cognition.

Indeed, its own-source funding, together with the award of a STRATEX “major equipment” grant, has enabled the development of the VIRTUALIA platform, which uses Virtual Reality to create more ecologically valid experimental conditions while collecting behavioural and physiological measures. This platform is also of interest for clinical applications (e.g. phobias, neurodegenerative diseases). Thus, the laboratory’s scientific strategy has been largely structured around the development of the VIRTUALIA platform. Another distinctive feature of the LMC2, probably unique in France, is the development of a research area devoted to the History of Psychology, led by one of its members, a nationally recognised expert in the field (notably through his appointment as a Senior Member of the IUF), and unfortunately probably the only specialist in this area. With the support of the Institute of Psychology, this has led to the creation of a Museum of the History of Psychology, while also making it possible to maintain courses in the history of psychology, which have almost disappeared from psychology programmes across France.

The national and international standing of the LMC2 is reflected in the numerous awards it has received (n = 10), recognising PhD students (e.g. two doctoral thesis awards from ED 261, the DENIKER Award), teaching innovations (IdEx Award and AGIR Award), and various other scientific achievements (the Joël Ménard Award from the Alzheimer Foundation). This standing is also reflected in strong involvement in learned societies (n = 12, e.g. the Society for Psychophysiology and Cognitive Neuroscience, G.R.E.C.O., the French National Committee for Scientific Psychology/Académie des Sciences, and COllaborative COgnitive Science), as well as numerous invitations to international conferences (26) and national conferences (51). Another significant mark of recognition is the appointment of three unit members to the IUF (one Junior IUF Fellow for 2021–2026, one Senior IUF Fellow for 2016–2021, and the renewal of another Senior IUF Fellowship for 2014–2019).

Despite some heterogeneity among the unit’s members, the excellence of the LMC2’s research is also demonstrated by a very substantial publication output (140 articles, corresponding to an average of 1.94 articles per tenured faculty member per year, which is excellent for a laboratory composed exclusively of faculty members), published in leading international journals covering a broad range of fields: Applied Psychology (e.g. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour; Computers in Human Behavior; Applied Ergonomics; Journal of Environmental Psychology), Neuroscience (e.g. NeuroImage; Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews), and Developmental Psychology (e.g. International Journal of Behavioral Development).

LMC2 members also have substantial teaching responsibilities, particularly at undergraduate and Master’s levels, including teaching in cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and developmental psychology. They also undertake numerous administrative and research leadership responsibilities, including the Deputy Directorship of the Institute of Psychology, management of a shared research platform, the Museum of the History of Psychology, the Psychology undergraduate programme, and two Master’s programmes.

During the next contract period, research will continue along the lines of the current programme, with multidisciplinary research on memory functions and their interactions with other cognitive processes, including learning, attention and executive functions, metacognitive and socio-affective processes, self-awareness and meta-awareness. The use of the immersive technologies available through the VIRTUALIA platform will be further expanded in fundamental research and, at the applied level, is expected to support the development of new cognitive assessment and stimulation tools in the healthcare sector.

Finally, the committee identified two areas requiring continued attention. First, the development of the VIRTUALIA platform and the significant increase in its planned use during the next contract period will require sufficient financial and human resources to be maintained. Although the platform is currently funded through the laboratory’s own-source resources, this will require the unit to increase these resources in the future. In terms of human resources, the two research engineers assigned to the unit already have a very substantial workload, which would be difficult to increase. The second area requiring attention concerns the fact that 3 of the 4 Professors currently in post are likely to retire (or become emeritus) before the end of the next contract period. This will require, in particular, a transition period in the leadership of the unit, potentially involving co-direction during the second half of the contract period.

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2017–2018 Evaluation Campaign

OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

The LMC conducts original research on human memory at the intersection of experimental psychology, cognitive neuropsychology and neuroscience, with a particular specialisation in autobiographical memory and Virtual Reality, which gives the LMC a strong and internationally recognised identity. The assessment of the period under review in terms of scientific output, research outputs and knowledge and technology transfer is considered excellent. Likewise, the team’s scientific standing and attractiveness are considered excellent, despite the major restructuring undertaken in recent years, and although its international engagement, for example through the recruitment of international postdoctoral researchers and the development of international collaborations, could be further strengthened.
The scientific project for the forthcoming five-year period, strengthened by the arrival of new members and expanded in terms of its scientific research questions, is innovative and robust. The emphasis placed on Virtual Reality, while needing to remain balanced with other neuroscientific methods, offers promising scientific prospects and provides a unifying focus around the identity of the future laboratory. The project meets all the criteria of a high-quality research laboratory and has significant potential for further development. The motivation and shared enthusiasm of the future permanent members of the laboratory, research support staff and students are undeniable assets for the future.
The evaluation committee therefore expresses its very favourable and unreserved support for the establishment of the Équipe d’Accueil (EA) requested in the scientific project. Learn more

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