PhD: Memory consolidation during wakefulness: a possible role for odors?

KEY WORDS

CITY

COUNTRY

France

DETAILS OF THE OFFER

Working place: CRNL (Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon)

Missions:

Literature has long considered that memory consolidation processes were mainly linked to sleep phases and involved sleep slow rhythms. Recently, however, it has been shown that consolidation processes also occur during quiet wakefulness. In a mechanistic point of view, slow rhythms seem to promote memory consolidation by facilitating hippocampal-cortical communication. Given that 1) some olfactory stimuli (soothing odors) are known to induce calm wakefulness by decreasing respiratory and heart rates, and 2) the olfactory nasal pathway is involved in synchronizing brain rhythms to the slow rhythm of respiration during calm wakefulness, we hypothesize that some specific odors may favor the emergence of a calm state and thus enhance memory consolidation by promoting the emergence of slow brain rhythms.
This hypothesis will be tested in a series of experiments in which participants will be asked to encode a series of associations. After being exposed to different odors during a rest period, their recall performance will be tested. Their brain and physiological activities (heart, breathing) will be recorded in parallel, along with their responses to various questionnaires. Data collected will therefore include behavioral data, EEG activity, cardiac and respiratory signals.

Qualifications:

Highly committed candidate, interested in questions concerning memory, the relationship between the central and autonomic nervous systems, curious about olfaction and with programming skills.

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TYPE OF JOB

Thèse - PhD

TYPE OF CONTRACT

CDD (temporary / 36 months)

REMUNERATION

APPLICATION DEADLINE

EMPLOYMENT START DATE

2 OCT 2023