Date : 24/03/2009

Laboratory:
Neuroimagery & psychiatry
INSERM - CEA U797
97 Bd de Port Royal
75014 Paris
Director: Jean-Luc Martinot

Thesis supervisor
Jean-Luc MARTINOT
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: + 33 (0)1 58 41 28 41

Key subjects : Brain imaging, psychiatry, psychology

Keywords: MRI, psychometry, neuropsychology

Website : www.imagen-europe.com

sSummary of lab's interests

The INSERM U.797 Research Unit involves a team of physicians and researchers trained to investigate juvenile or adult healthy subjects and patients with brain disorders and genetic conditions for more than fifteen years. It also includes ingeeners experienced in brain image transfert, storage and analysis. The INSERM U797Unit is a partner in Neurospin, where high field MR research facilities (Siemens 3T MRI Trio) is available.

Also, the INSERM Unit U797 has dedicated research facilities within: -1/ the Pediatric Radiology Department at Necker pediatric hospital, Paris (Pr F Brunelle, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris), a department experienced in brain scanning young patients or healthy children and adolescents; and -2/ within the Department of Adolescent medicine, Cochin hospital, Paris (Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Maison de Solenn), a new department devoted to psychological and medical evaluation of adolescents, which has a partnership with the local education system (college- and high-schools).

Major research activities

The INSERM U.797 research unit was created officially in 2002, and is affiliated to the University Paris Sud (Orsay) and to the University Paris Descartes (Paris). The aim the unit is to relate brain imaging methods, clinical characterisation and genetic variables to investigate the cerebral characteristics of volunteers with respect to psychopathology. Studies are performed in juvenile and adult subjects, either healthy, or with autism, or disorders with onset at adolescence, notably addictions, schizophrenia, depression. Also, comparison with affective disorders, neurogenetic syndromes, and alcoholism allows more thorough specification of the variations detected. We use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI), and positron emission tomography (PET) to explore cerebral morphology, function, and neurochemistry.

Summary of project

The project will be performed injuvenile patients with adolescent-onset mental disorders. It will be linked linked to the European intergrated project. IMAGEN study which aims to investigate mental health and risk taking behaviour in teenagers. A cohort of adolescents, their parents and research teams from 8 large european cities are involved in this project.

The researchers want to find out what impact might certain attitudes and thinking styles, as well as certain brain activity patterns and genetic characteristics, have on teenage risk taking behaviour and mental health.

Research methods will include self-report questionnaires, behavioural assessment, interviews, neuroimaging of the brain as well as blood sampling for genetic analyses.