Pauline Favre

Research Interest

My research focuses on understanding the cognitive and cerebral mechanisms underlying: (1) Emotion processing and regulation in the general population and in psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder and; (2) The positive effects of cognitive or mental trainings, such as psychosocial interventions and meditation-based mental training in these populations. I use a combination of cognitive paradigms as well as functional and anatomical MRI to pursue these objectives.

Key-words

Bipolar Disorders; Brain Plasticity; Emotions; Cognitive training; MRI; fMRI

Ongoing Projects

ENIGMA BD-DTI

project website

• Head of the Bipolar-DTI project: Dr. Josselin Houenou (Neurospin, CEA Paris-Saclay; APHP-Hopital Henri-Mondor, Créteil)

In this multi-center international study, conducted under the umbrella of the ENIGMA consortium, I am working with DTI data from about 3000 subjects (half patients with bipolar disorder, half controls) from 26 cohorts, thus constituting the largest DTI database of bipolar patients known today. My goal is to identify reliably and reproducibly, with the use of machine learning algorythms, white matter microstructural abnormalities that could characterize these patients.

The ReSource Project

• Head: Prof. Dr. Tania Singer (MPI, Leipzig, Germany)

The ReSource project is a large-scale longitudinal study on meditation-based mental training. The goal of this 11-month program is to cultivate compassion, gratitude, motivation pro-social, etc. but also to improve subjective well-being and health through different mental training modules (3 months each). The “Presence” module focuses on attention training and interoceptive awareness. The "Affect" module aims to strengthen compassion and gratitude towards others as well as to improve the management of difficult emotions through the training of socio-emotional skills. The objective of the module "Perspective" is to train the socio-cognitive skills, such as theory of mind and metacognitive capacities.

The purpose of my work in this project are i) to evaluate change in emotional reactivity and its associated cerebral network after the overall ReSource program as well as the differential effect the 3 modules; ii) to evaluate change in mindwandering content after these training with an experience sampling paradigm.

BIPED

• Head: Prof. Mircea Polosan (CHU/GIN, Grenoble, France)

Description: The BiPed project is my PhD project. The objectives of this project were, first, to identify brain abnormalities underlying emotional and cognitive disorders in bipolar disorders, and second, to identify how psychoeducation, a specific and structured psychosocial intervention, can modulate these brain abnormalities.

Publications : Favre et al., 2016, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics; Favre et al., 2015, PloS One; Favre et al., 2014, JAD; Favre et al., 2013, Psych. Res.: Neuroimaging.

MAGTOC

project website

• Head: Prof. Mircea Polosan (CHU/GIN, Grenoble, France)

Description: This clinical study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The originality of this study lies in the choice of the target region, which is determined individually by an fMRI task measuring motor impulsivity: the "Stop Signal Task" (SST).

FOVEA

project website

• Head: Rebecca Shankland (LIP/UGA, Grenoble, France)

Description: This project focuses on the effects of a mindfulness meditation program: the FOVEA program on i) low-level emotional visual perception (by manipulating the spatial frequency of images) and ii) on eating behaviors, food impulsivity in particular.

Previous Positions & Education

March 2017 – now

Post-doctoral researcher at Neurospin research center (CEA – Paris Saclay)

• Project: Stratification of a large base of MRI data of bipolar patients with machine learning algorithms.
• Head: Edouard Duchesnay (PhD), Josselin Houenou (MD, PhD), Jean-François Mangin (PhD)

February 2015 – February 2017

Post-doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognition and Brain Science, Dept. of Social Neuroscience (Leipzig, Germany)

• Project: The ReSource Project - large-scale longitudinal study on Eastern and Western methods of mental training.
• Head: Pr. Dr. Tania Singer

October - December 2013

“In-Doc” Research internship in the University of Cambridge (UK)

• Institution: Dept. of Psychiatry, Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience Institute.
• Supervisor: Dr Valerie Voon (MD, PhD)

October 2011 – December 2014

PhD in Cognitive Sciences, Psychology and Neurocognition (Lab of Psychology and NeuroCognition, Grenoble, France)

• Thesis title: Cerebral dysfunction in bipolar disorder and effects of psychosocial interventions: assessment with functional and anatomical MRI
• Grant: MENRT (French Ministry of National Education, Research and Technology)
• Supervisors: Monica Baciu, MD (Neurology), PhD (Neurosciences) & Mircea Polosan, MD (Psychiatry), PhD (Neurosciences)

2010-2011

Research Master (2nd yr): Clinical Neuroscience and Neuropsychology (University of Grenoble, France)

• Master thesis title: Neurofunctional correlates of psychoeducation response in bipolar patients
• Supervisors: Monica Baciu (MD, PhD) & Mircea Polosan (MD, PhD)

2009-2010

Master (1st yr) in Cognitive Psychology (University of Grenoble, France)

• Master thesis title: Cross-language comparison, French and Spanish: Hemispheric specialization. A divided visual field study
• Supervisors: Monica Baciu (MD, PhD) & Marcela Perrone-Bertolotti (PhD)

2006-2009

Bachelor in Psychology (University of Grenoble, France)

2005

Baccalaureate in Science (Specialty: Biology), Academy of Grenoble

Publications

PhD Thesis

Link to download my PhD thesis

Peer-reviewed journals

• Favre, P., Pauling, M., Stout, J., Hozer, F., Sarrazin, S., Abé, C., Alda, M., Alloza, C., Alonso-Lana, S., Andreassen, O.A., Baune, B.T., [...], Leboyer, M., Mangin, J-F, Henry, C., Duchesnay, E. & Houenou, J. (2019). Widespread white matter microstructural abnormalities in bipolar disorder: evidence from mega-and meta-analyses across 3033 individuals. Neuropsychopharmacology, In press.
• Laidi, C., Hajek, T., Spaniel, F., Kolenic, M., d'Albis, M.A., Sarrazin, S., Mangin, J.F., Duchesnay, E., Brambilla, P., Wessa, M., Linke, J., Polosan,M., Favre, P., Versace, A.L., Phillips, M.L., Manjon, J.V., Romero, J.E., Hozer, F., Leboyer, M., Coupe, P. & Houenou, J. (2019). Cerebellar parcellation in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica. In press.
• Shankland, R, Favre, P., Corubolo, D., Méary, D., Flaudias, V. & Mermillod, M. (2019). Food-Cal: Development of a controlled database of high- and low-calorie food matched with non-food pictures. Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity. 1-10.
• Sarrazin, S., Poupon, C., Teillac, A., Mangin, JF., Polosan, M., Favre, P., Laidi, C., D’Albis, MA., Leboyer, M., Lledo, PM., Henry, C., Houenou, J. (2019). Higher in vivo cortical intracellular volume fraction associated with lithium therapy in bipolar disorder : a multicenter NOODI study. Psychotherapy & Psychosomatics, 88 (3), 171-176.
• Nunes, A., Schnack, H.G., Ching, C.R.K., Agartz, I., Akudjedu, T.N., Alda, M., Alnæs, D., Alonso-Lana, S., Bauer, J., Baune, B.T., Bøen, E., Bonnin, C.d.M., Busatto, G.F., Canales-Rodríguez, E.J., Cannon, D.M., Caseras, X., Chaim-Avancini, T.M., Dannlowski, U., Díaz-Zuluaga, A.M., Dietsche, B., Doan, N.T., Duchesnay, E., Elvsåshagen, T., Emden, D., Eyler, L.T., Fatjó-Vilas, M., Favre, P., [...], M.V., Andreassen, O.A., Thompson, P.M., Hajek, T., for the, E.B.D.W.G., (2018). Using structural MRI to identify bipolar disorders – 13 site machine learning study in 3020 individuals from the ENIGMA Bipolar Disorders Working Group. Molecular Psychiatry, In Press.
• Sarrazin, S., Cachia, A., Hozer, F., McDonald, C., Emsell L., Wessa M., Linke J., Versace A., Hamdani N., Delavest M., Phillips ML., Brambilla P., Polosan M., Favre P., Leboyer M., Mangin JF., Houenou J. (2018). Neurodevelopmental subtypes of bipolar disorder are related to cortical folding patterns: an international multicenter study. Bipolar Disorders, 20 (8), 721-732.
• Uszynski, I., Poupon, C., Pichat, C., Favre, P., Fredembach, B., Mathieu, H., Lamalle, L., Krainik, A., David, O., Barbier, E. & Polosan, M. Looking at the structural connectivity of the frontal inferior cortex to better decipher the inhibitory control mechanisms in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. ISMRM 2018, Paris, France.
• Kibleur,A., Polosan, M., Favre, P., Rudrauf, D., Bougerol, T., Chabardès, S., David, O. (2017). Stimulation of subgenual cingulate area decreases limbic top-down control on ventral visual stream: A DBS-EEG pilot study. Neuroimage, 146, 544-553.
• Favre, P., Houenou, J., Baciu, M., Pichat, C., Bougerol, T. & Polosan, M. (2016). White-matter plasticity induced by psychoeducation in bipolar patients: A controlled diffusion tensor imaging study. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 85, 58-60.
• Morris, L. S., Kundu, P., Dowell, N., Mechelmans, D. J., Favre, P., Irvine, M. A., ... & Voon, V. (2016). Fronto-Striatal Organization: Defining Functional and Microstructural Substrates of Behavioural Flexibility. Cortex, 74, 118-133.
• Favre, P., Polosan, M., Pichat, C., Bougerol, T. & Baciu, M. (2015). Cerebral correlates of emotional conflict processing in euthymic bipolar patients: A functional MRI connectivity study. PLoS ONE, 10 (8), e0134961.
• Favre, P., Baciu, M., Pichat, C., Bougerol, T. & Polosan, M. (2014). FMRI evidence for abnormal resting-state functional connectivity in euthymic bipolar patients. Journal of affective disorders, 165, 182-189.
• Favre, P., Baciu, M., Pichat, C., De Pourtalès, M.A., Fredembach, B., Garçon, S., Bougerol, T. & Polosan, M. (2013). Modulation of fronto-limbic activity by the psychoeducation in euthymic bipolar patients. A functional MRI study. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 214(3), 285-295.

Submitted/under review

• Claude, L.A., Houenou, J., Duchesnay, E. & Favre, P.. Will machine learning applied to neuroimaging in bipolar disorder help the clinician? A critical review and perspective.
• Favre, P., Baciu, M., Pichat, C., Perrin, A., Bougerol, T. & Polosan, M. Neuroanatomical predictors of the psychoeducation outcome in bipolar patients: A combined voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging study.
• Shankland, R., Favre, P., Kotsou, I. & Mermillod, M. Mindfulness training reshapes the visual processing of emotional facial expressions in an emotional Stroop task.
• Raffin, E., Harquel, S. Favre, P., Beynel, L., Siebner, H.R., David, O. & Polosan, M. Linking dysfunctional premotor-to-motor connectivity to disease severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder – a robotic dual-site TMS study.

In preparation

• Favre, P., Flaudias, V.Corublo, D., Mermillod, M & Shankland, R. Be mindful to be healthy: Motor impulsivity to food decreases after mindfulness training.
• Favre, P., Kanske, P., Engen, H. & Singer, T. Neurofunctional plasticity of socio-affective and socio-cognitive networks after meditation-based mental training: a large-scale longitudinal fMRI study.
• Euterio, J., Favre, P.,

Books Chapters

Vrticka, P., Favre, P. & Singer, T. (2017). Compassion and the brain. In Gilbert, P. (Ed.) Compassion: Concepts, Research and Applications. London, UK: Routledge.

Polosan, M. & Favre, P. (2015) Imagerie des Troubles Bipolaires. In Fossati, P. (Ed.). Imagerie Cérébrale en Psychiatrie. Contributions Physiopathologiques de la Neuro-Imagerie. Paris: Lavoisier/Médecine Sciences.

Vulgarisation

Polosan, M. & Favre, P. Troubles bipolaires : des connexions cérébrales anormales, Science & Santén°21 sep/oct 2014, p.20-21.

Communications

Symposium / Oral presentations (selectioned/invited)

• Favre, P., Duchesnay E., Houenou, J. for the ENIGMA Bipolar Disorder DTI Working Group. Classification and clustering of patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD) based on DTI data: Relationship with clinical dimensions. 14th World Congress of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP), Vancouver, Canada. June 2019.
• Favre, P., Duchesnay E., Houenou, J. for the ENIGMA Bipolar Disorder DTI Working Group. Classification of Patients With Bipolar Disorder Based on DTI Data: Relationship With Clinical Dimensions. 73nd meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP), New York City, USA. May 2018.
• Favre, P., Houenou, J., Sarrazin, S., Pauling, M., Henry, C., for the ENIGMA Bipolar Disorder DTI Working Group. Brain networks and bipolar disorder: what can we learn from large-scale neuroimaging studies. 72nd meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP), San Diego, USA. May 2017.
• Favre, P. & Singer, T. Lessons from the ReSource project: Behavioral and brain changes in affective processing after a 9-month longitudinal mental training program. 8th European Conference of Positive Psychology (ECPP), Anger, France. June 2016.

Conferences Proceedings, Workshops & Posters presentations

2019

• Favre, P., Duchesnay, E. & Houenou, J for the ENIGMA Bipolar Disorder DTI Working Group. Subgrouping of patients with bipolar disorder based on DTI data, 25th annual meeting of the Organisation for Human Brain Mapping, Rome, Italy. June 2019.

2017

• Favre, P., Duchesnay, E. & Houenou, J. Classification of patients with Bipolar Disorder based on DTI data: relationship with clinical dimensions. Proceedings of the Computational Brain Connectivity Mapping (CoBCoM) workshop, Juan-les-Pins, France. November 2017.
• Hozer, F., Sarazzin, S., Duchesnay, E., Pauling, M., Mangin, J.F., Polosan, M., Favre, P., Wessa, M., Linke, J., Versace, A., Phillips, M., Brambilla, P., McDonald, C., Emsell, L., Bellivier, F., Leboyer, M., Houenou, J. Could lithium prevent the bipolar disorder brain atrophy? Abstracts of the 30th ECNP Congress, European Neuropsychopharmacology, 27 (4), S521-S1181.
• Favre, P., Baciu, M., Perrin, A., Pichat, C., Bougerol, T. & Polosan, M. Neuroanatomical Predictors of the Psychoeducation Outcome in Bipolar patients: A Combined Voxel-Based Morphometry and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study. 72nd meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP), San Diego, USA. May 2017.

2016

• Raffin, E., Harquel, S. Favre, P., Beynel, L., Siebner, H.R., David, O. & Polosan, M. Linking dysfunctional premotor-to-motor connectivity to disease severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder – a robotic dual-site TMS study. 10th FENS Forum of Neuroscience, Copenhagen, Denmark. July 2016.
• Corubolo, D., Shankland, R., Favre, P., Tessier, D., Beffara, B. & Mermillod, M. Effects of Mindfulness on Emotion Regulation and Health Behaviors. 2nd International Conference on Mindfulness (ICM), Rome, Italy, May 2016.

2014

• Favre, P., Baciu, M., Pichat, C., Bougerol, T. & Polosan, M. Impaired Fronto-Limbic Connectivity in Euthymic Bipolar Patients: A Combined Resting-State / DTI Study. 20th OHBM Annual Meeting, Hamburg, Germany. Human Brain Mapping. 1322, 2014.
• Favre, P., Baciu, M., Perrin, A., Pichat, C., Bougerol, T. & Polosan, M. Neuroanatomical predictors of psychoeducation response in euthymic bipolar patients : A Voxel-Based Morphometric study. 16th Annual Conference of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD), Seoul, South Korea. Bipolar Disorders. 2014, 16, 88-88.

2013

• Favre, P., Polosan, M., Pichat, C., Bougerol, T. & Baciu, M. Functional connectivity in euthymic bipolar patients: An fMRI resting-state study. 20th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS), San Francisco, USA. Journal of Cognitive Neurosciences. 2013, 96-96.
• Favre, P., Polosan, M., Pichat, C., Bougerol, T. & Baciu, M. Abnormal resting-state functional connectivity in euthymic bipolar patients. 21st European Congress of Psychiatry (EPA), Nice, France. European Psychiatry. 2013, 28(1): A1716.
• Favre, P., Polosan, M., Pichat, C., Bougerol, T. & Baciu, M. Frontal-amygdala alterations during emotional conflict processing in euthymic bipolar patients: a word-face Stroop fMRI study. 11ième Colloque de la Société des Neurosciences, Lyon, France, May 2013.

2012

• Favre, P., Polosan, M., Pichat, C., De Pourtalès, M.A., Fredembach, B., Garçon, S., Bougerol, T. & Baciu, M. The psychoeducation modulates resting-state functional connectivity in euthymic bipolar patients: a preliminary study. 3rd Biennial International Conference on Resting State Brain Connectivity. Brain Connectivity. 2012, 2(4): A1-A156.
• Favre, P., Polosan, M., Pichat, C., De Pourtalès, M.A., Fredembach, B., Garçon, S., Bougerol, T. & Baciu, M. Corrélats neurofonctionnels de la réponse à la psychoéducation chez les patients bipolaires stabilisés. 10iÈme Congrès de l’Encéphale, Paris, France, January 2012.

Oral Communications in National Conferences

• Favre, P. & Houenou, J. Le neurofeedback IRMf : des neurosciences cognitives à l'application thérapeutique en psychiatrie. 4ième Journée Nationale du Neurofeedback, Bordeaux, France. Mai, 2019.
• Favre, P., Baciu, M., Pichat, C., Bougerol, T. & Polosan, M. What can we learn with multimodal MRI ? Apport de l’IRM multimodal pour une vision intégrée du fonctionnement cognitif sain et pathologique : exemple de l’étude de l’activité, de la connectivité et l’anatomie cérébrale dans la maladie bipolaire. 5ième rencontres du Pôle Cognition, Grenoble, France, Juin 2014.
• Favre, P., Polosan, M., Pichat, C., De Pourtalès, M.A., Fredembach, B., Garçon, S., Bougerol, T. & Baciu, M. Psychoéducation et maladie bipolaire : Corrélats anatomofonctionnels avec IRMf. Journées de la recherche médicale, Grenoble, France, May 2012.
• Pichat, C., Cousin, E., Favre, P., Perrone-Bertolotti, M. & Baciu, M. Assessment of functional connectivity during fMRI resting-state: comparison of ROI- and ICA-based methods. Preliminary Result. Société Française de Résonance Magnétique en Biologie et Médecine (SFRMBM), Marseille, France, March 2012.

Students Supervision

!!! Don’t hesitate to contact me if you’re looking for an internship or a PhD !!!

Internship proposal for 2018-2019: Study of inter-hemispheric functional connectivity in Bipolar disorder. Check the details here.

Co-advising Master students

2015-2017

Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany

• Valeria Yankous-Ferreira (Humbolt University, Berlin) Internship project: Modulation of physiological response to exogenous and endogenous emotion generation after meditation training: Physiological correlates of brain activity during emotional tasks.
• Francie Missbach (Universität wien, Vienna, Austria) Internship project: How meditation trainings shape your thoughts? Exploration of the effects of three different trainings on socio-temporo-emotional content of mindwandering.

2012-2014

University Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France

• Manon Commaret, Professional Master in Neuropsychology, (University of Savoie, Chambéry): “Study of inter-hemispheric collaboration in bipolar patients”, 2013-2014.
• Alexandre Perrin, Medical intern and research Master student in Neuropsychology (CHU-UPMF, Grenoble): “Evaluation of neuroanatomical markers of bipolar disorders with voxel-based morphometry (VBM-MRI)”, 2012-2014.
• Lidwine Laurent, research Master student in Neuropsychology (UPMF, Grenoble): “Effect of the psychoeducation on emotional impulsive response in bipolar patients: an emotional Go-Nogo fMRI study”, 2012-2013.

Teaching

September 2018-now - Paris-Descartes University, Institute of Psychology

Lecturer in Psychology degree

• Cognitive Psychology, Lectures, Master "Eco-Psy" (36h)
• Cognitive Psychology, Tutorial classes, Bachelor (3rd degree) (24h)

2015 - Max Planck Institute for Human Cognition and Brain Science

• Lecture in the IMPRS NeuroCom research school program
• Lecture on Social cognition and emotion: “Emotion regulation and psycho-social intervention”

2012-2014 - Grenoble Alps University, Departement of Psychology (128h)

Teacher assistant in Psychology degree

• Statistics, 1st and 2nd degrees; Tutorial Classes (TC)
• Neuropsychology, 3rd degree; Lectures and TC
• Cognitive psychology, 1st degree; TC
• Psychology introduction, 1st degree; TC
• Methodologies in social and human sciences, 1st degree; TC