Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience
Neuronal Circuits and Motor Control
Head: Julien Bouvier
2022
July: we organized the 1st pre-FENS Satellite on Neuronal Motor Circuits.
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12 early career researchers from several laboratories worldwide including our own covered the cell types and circuits for movement and sensory processing in the spinal cord, the organization of descending motor tracts, as well as integrated and adaptive motor control. This was a real success!!
April: Julien Bouvier receives the bronze Medal of CNRS!
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The bronze medal rewards initial research that has established a researcher as a specialist in their field. This distinction is a form of encouragement to pursue research that is already well underway and proving successful. This year, 9 awardees of the medal are biologists, and we are proud to be the representative of Neuroscience!
March: the team receives the "Team FRM" label
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Guarantee of excellence, the "Team FRM" label is awarded by Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale for three years and aims to fund innovative work in biology, with a high potential for application in human health. In 2022, the FRM selected 50 projects including ours on reticulospinal neurons in locomotor control and recovery following spinal cord injury.
2021
December: Julien defends the HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches).
The HDR is a mandatory step for a PI to continue supervising PhD students. It is delivered by the University after a thesis evaluation and an oral defense. A bit like a second PhD!
October: new FRM sholarship!
PhD student Giovanni Usseglio just obtained a 1-year extension from the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM) to pursue his doctoral program on the diversity and function of reticulospinal neurons in the control of movements. Congratulations to him, and thank you FRM for supporting our research.
July: new preprint for the lab!
We just uploaded our recent findings on the linker circuits between respiratory and locomotor central networks. Brilliant work done by former PhD student Coralie Hérent!
July: 2 new projects funded by ANR in the team.
We are part of two funded projects by ANR dedicated to brainstem/spinal cord circuits in controlling locomotion and orientation in health and following spinal cord injury!
January 29: Coralie Hérent obtains her PhD.
Brilliant defense of her work titled: Respiratory adaptation to running exercise: a behavioural and neuronal circuits study in mice”. What an exciting day and enriching 4+ years of work in the lab !
January: A new ANR grant starts for our lab!
The lab is part of an 3 partite collaboration to study the functional connectomics underlying postural control, funded by ANR.
2020
December 2020: last paper of the year is out!!
​DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abc6309. Or download pdf here.
This work is from a great collaboration with Brice Bathellier's lab. We pioneered pioneered the use of deep-brain maging with the Inscopix miniscope to image the activity of deep brainstem neurons in vivo during locomotion.
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December 2020: first paper for PhD student Coralie Hérent!!
These results challenge the concept that breathing and locomotor rhythms are coupled in a relatively fixed manner during running, and introduce the mouse model as part of the toolbox to investigate how breathing is augmented during running exercise.
Oct. 2020: the very first published work of the laboratory, by PhD student Giovanni Usseglio is now online!
​https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.09.014. Get the full text here.
Using viral tracings, circuit optogenetics and chemogenetic silencing, we identify the reticulospinal neurons that command multiple motor actions linked to orientation and locomotion.
June 2020: the lab contributed important new findings!
The first paper with contribution from our PhD student Coralie Hérent is out!! Check out this exciting study examining the impact of axonal signaling during development on the left-right coordination of limb mouvements in mice. A fruitful collaboration with the group of Niccolò Zampieri, who led this research!
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September 2020: PhD Student obtains a doctoral fellowship!
Edwin Gatier obtains the 3-year doctoral fellowship from our local graduate school, ED568. Welcome Edwin and let's do great science!
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2019
Sept. 2019: FRM scholarship for our PhD student!
Coralie Hérent received the competitive PhD funding extension from the "Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale" for her project "Respiratory adaptation to exercise: neuronal connectivity interfacing respiratory and locomotor networks in mice".
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NeuroFrance is coming, the lab is going!
Come and hear about our ongoing work from two team members:
- Coralie Hérent: Distinct neuronal drives from locomotor circuits modulate breathing during exercise. Poster board P2.115, May 23, pm.
- Julien Bouvier: Anatomical and functional deciphering of brainstem reticulospinal neurons controlling locomotion.
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2018
Sept. 2018: new members and new lab spaces!
We are happy to welcome our two new members:
- Aurélie Heuzé, tenured Research Associate
- Giovanni Usseglio, PhD Student.
To accomodate everyone in the best conditions while we wait for the delivery of the new building, we have just moved to a dedicated lab space, very comfy and recently renovated !
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