BRETTE Romain

Project status: closed

Dr. Romain Brette is an Inserm research director at the Vision Institute in Paris[M1]. His work focuses on the spatial perception of sound sources, with the aim of deciphering the way the organism processes sound to obtain information on the environment, and understanding how the auditory system localizes sound sources.

PROFESSIONAL PATH 

As a graduate of Ecole Normal Supérieure (ENS) and a trained mathematician, Dr. Brette pursued his studies with a PhD in neuroscience at the Pierre and Marie Curie University. Working alongside Prof. Alain Destexhe while undertaking postdoctoral work at the CNRS Unit of Neuroscience Information and Complexity (UNIC) in the Paris region, he invented a measuring technique to record neural activity. Later working with Prof. Wulfram Gerstner at Ecole Polytechnique Federale of Lausanne (EPFL), he developed a new mathematical neuronal model capable of predicting the neuronal response to electrical stimulation. As a lecturer at ENS Ulm, he also developed software to simulate neuronal models and applied them to the auditory system. Romain then turned to the perception and localization of sounds, working as part of the Hearing team at the ENS Department of Cognitive Studies.

RESEARCH WORK

Dr. Brette is currently pursuing his research work at the Vision Institute, where he is studying the basis of multisensory perception, and in particular hearing, in the brain. He would like to create mathematical models that can explain how individuals perceive and locate the spatial position of sound sources using physiological, anatomical and functional data. To do so, Romain’s team draws on different disciplines, such as acoustics, neurophysiology, psychoacoustics, electronics and mathematics. This rich interdisciplinary research approach enables his team to work with different professionals and consider the issues from various angles.

FUTURE PROJECTS 

Dr. Brette would like to understand the acoustic properties of natural environments. For example, when someone walks, sound comes from the interaction between the person’s feet and the ground that starts to vibrate. Romain is studying how the auditory system processes the immense variety of environments to locate sound sources. He is also studying the orienting response, and in particular eye movements toward a sound source, as well as the interactions between auditory and visual perceptions.

Passionately interested in science, Dr. Brette likes to continually learn new things and get involved in original, creative projects without knowing the outcome in advance.

Doctor Romain Brette
Research Director
Institut de la Vision, Paris, France

Related scientific publication(s):

• Romain Brette. Integrative Neuroscience of Paramecium, a "Swimming Neuron".eNeuro. 2021 Jun 7;8(3):ENEURO.0018-21.2021.doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0018-21.2021. Print May-Jun 2021. 
• Romain Brette. Does the present moment depend on the moments not lived? Behav Brain Sci. 2022 Mar 23;45:e43. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X21001904. 

 [M1]http://www.institut-vision.org/fr/