Alice Gomez HDR Defense - Neurodevelopmental disorders and learning: Insights from cognitive science

Work and project summary

Our work focuses on learning in typical and atypical development. It aims to build bridges between our knowledge of how the mind works and how our brain works in order to 1) inform our cognitive knowledge through the diversity of individuals and 2) promote learning for all.

We provide evidence on the developmental impact of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) on mathematical skills and motor awareness. We identify altered neurocognitive systems and preserved mathematical strategies that allow us to hypothesize about the needs of these children and to propose mathematical interventions adapted to their needs. Concerning motor awareness, we point to alterations in motor awareness which orient towards a metacognitive approach to the rehabilitation

of motor gestures in DCD. In a second part, we have identified the impact of atypical development of social interactions (Williams-Beuren Syndrome, WS and Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD) on the processing of facial features useful for the judgment of trust and its cerebral substrate, as well as the impact of inter-species and intercultural differences. This research allows us to propose strategies to circumvent with WS patients their spontaneous behaviors of undifferentiated approaches. Finally, we have developed new tools to promote learning to read for all by considering the phenomena of visual clutter and multisensory encoding in learning to read.

We present research projects aimed at better understanding and preventing DCD and developing geometry teaching strategies for these students.

Jury

Rapporteurs :

Mme ASSAIANTE Christine, Directrice de Recherche, CNRS Marseille

M BORST Grégoire, Professeur des Universités, Université de Paris

M GENTAZ Edouard, Professeur Ordinaire, Université de Genève (Suisse)



Examinateurs :

Mme HURON Caroline, Chargée de Recherche, HDR, INSERM Paris

Mme MAZZA Stéphanie, Professeure des Universités, Université Lyon 1

M PRADO Jérôme (EDUWELL CRNL), Chargé de Recherche, HDR, CNRS Lyon

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