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Jean-Claude DREHER
Doctor in Cognitive Neuroscience (Ph.D)
Research director (DR1) at CNRS


+33 4 37 91 12 38
Email

I investigate the neural mechanisms underlying decision making, motivation and reward processing in humans, using concepts from cognitive neuroscience, psychology and behavioral economics. We use experimental tools such as model-based functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, intracranial electrophysiological recordings and pharmacological manipulations to understand the computational processes involved when making a choice. Our goals are to understand the functional organization of the prefrontal cortex in humans, the various functions that the reward dopaminergic system exerts on cognition and motivation and the neural mechanisms underlying dysfunctions of these two systems in patients with neurological or psychiatric illnesses (Parkinson’s disease, patients with focal prefrontal cortex lesions, schizophrenia and pathological gambling).

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EDUCATION

 

2006    Habilitation to supervise PhD students

1999 Jan 28th    Ph.D in cognitive neuroscience (Summa Cum Laude). INSERM, Paris VI University. Supervisor: Dr Y. Burnod. Thesis title:” Model of dopamine modulation in the prefrontal cortex and study of sensori-motor sequences in schizophrenia”.

1996    Research degree in psychopathology, graduated with distinction, Paris VII University

1993    Master’s degree in cognitive science (DEA: “Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies”), graduated with distinction, Orsay University

1992    Master's degree in Mathematics (“Maîtrise”), Orsay University

1992-1993    Clinical training in psychiatry (Supervisor: Dr Hardy-Bayle, Versailles).

 

 

CURRENT POSITION

 

May 2004-current    PI, head of the “Neuroeconomics, Reward and decision making” group

Since May 2010: Research Director at CNRS, Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR 5229, Lyon, France

 

 

PREVIOUS POSITIONS
 

June 2000-April 2004:  Post-doctoral fellowship supervised by Karen Berman and Daniel Weinberger. Unit on Integrative Neuroimaging. Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, NIMH, NIH, USA.
May 1999- May 2000:    Post-doctoral fellowship supervised by Jordan Grafman. Cognitive Neuroscience        Section, NINDS, NIH, USA.

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FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
 

2001    Award of the Human Brain Mapping
2002 and 2003    Fellow Award for Research Excellence at the National Institutes of Health
2009 to current    Excellence ‘prime’ from the CNRS
2015 – 2016 : EURIAS award (sabbatical at the Institute for Advanced Studies HWK, Germany).
2021: IBRO Science of Learning fellowship, UNESCO, Geneva

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SUPERVISION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS
 

2004-2021      12 supervised Post-docs (2 currently): The 10 post-docs who left the lab have found a permanent position (J. Redouté: research engineer at Lyon Neuroimaging Center, X. Caldu: associate professor at Barcelona University, I. Obeso: Permanent researcher at San Pablo University, Madrid; S Park: post-doc at UCSD, USA; C Michelli: Researcher in Toronto; M Pedroza: assistant professor at California State University; D O’Connor: scientific writer; M Sestito, permanent researcher, USA; Y. Li: associate professor at Nanjing University, Y. Hu: assistant professor at ECNU, Shanghai); 13 PhD students (4 currently, most Phd students have found post-docs abroad); Over 30 Master Students at the ‘Neuroeconomics, Reward and decision making’ group, Cognitive Neuroscience Center, CNRS, Lyon, France. 

 

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TEACHING ACTIVITIES


2005-2015: Organization of the module ‘Reward processing and Decision making’ from master 2 «Recherches Neurosciences », Lyon
2016-current: Organization of the module ‘UE Systems Neuroscience : from molecule to cognition’ at Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS), Lyon.  Biology Master of Neuroscience ‘Europe’.
Spring semester 2018: teaching to master in neuroscience at NYU Shanghai.
Development of teaching materials: Editor of the book “Handbook of Reward and decision making”, published by Academic Press, Elsevier, 488 pages, 2009. http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/719325/description#descriptio

 

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ORGANIZATION OF SYMPOSIA IN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES


Organization of the symposium: “Fundamental and clinical neuroimaging approaches to reward processing”, Human Brain Mapping meeting, Melbourne, Australia, 2008
Organization of the symposium ‘Reward and decision making: electrophysiological, pharmacological and neuroimaging approaches’, Société des Neurosciences, May 26-29, 2009, Bordeaux, France
Organization of the symposium Executive Functions session, HBM 2009, San Fransisco
Organization of the symposium Emotion and Motivation session, HBM 2010, Barcelone
Organization of the symposium ‘Model-based fMRI and decision making, Société des Neurosciences, May 2013, Lyon, France
Organization of the Workshop on Decision Neuroscience, Institute for Advanced Studies HWK, June 2016, Germany, https://www.h-w-k.de/index.php?id=459
Organization of around 20 invitations per year, since 10 years, for international speakers at the Institute of Cognitive Science and for the laboratory of excellence Labex Cortex: http://www.labex-cortex.com/en/news

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INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES


2004 – current    Faculty member, Lyon 1 University, School ‘Neuroscience and Cognition’, France
2005 – current    Graduate Student Advisor, Lyon 1 University, Neuroscience and Cognition, France 
2012 – current     Member of the Neuroscience Faculty Committee, Lyon 1 University, Neuroscience and Cognition, France
2006 – present     Organizer of the weekly Internal Seminar, Cognitive Neuroscience Center, CNRS, Lyon
2005 – present     Member of the Neuroimaging Center Committee (Cermep); Lyon, France

 

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REVIEWING ACTIVITIES
 

2012 –2018     Scientific Advisory Board of the Neuroscience Consortium of excellence, Labex Cortex, Lyon 1 University, France (https://www.labex-cortex.com/en)
2006 –2016    Scientific Advisory Board of the graduate Neuroscience program ‘NSCo’. NSCo is one of the 2 doctoral schools in France exclusively dedicated to research on the brain and its functions
2005 – 2015     Review Board for the Ph.d fellowship of Neuroscience master students, Lyon 1
2007 – present  Graduate Admissions Committee, Dept. of Neuroscience, Lyon 1 University
2008 – present  Review panel member for FP6 and FP7 grant evaluations (Bruxelles, Belgium)
2010 – present  Review editor for Frontiers in Human Neuroscience and Frontiers in Decision Neuroscience
2016 – present  Editorial board member of the Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology and Economics
2012 – present  Editorial Board member of Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
2005 – present  Scientific Evaluation for grants from Wellcome trust, NSF, FRNS and NWO agencies
2013 – present  Evaluator, Psychology department, Ghent University, Belgium
2005 – present  Member of the Colloquium Committee, Cognitive Neuroscience Center, Lyon, France

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AD-HOC REVIEWER FOR PEER-REVIEW JOURNALS
 

Science, Nature neuroscience, Trends in Neuroscience, PNAS, Journal of Neuroscience, Cerebral Cortex, Neuroimage, Biological Psychiatry, Psychological Science, Psychopharmacology, …

 

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MEMBERSHIP OF SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEES


2000 – current    Member of the Society for Neuroeconomics , Social and Affective Neuroscience Society,         Society for Neuroscience, Human Brain Mapping, Société des Neurosciences Française
2006 - current    Referee for around 10 Ph.d thesis committees (including president of Ph.d jury).

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MAJOR COLLABORATIONS
 

- Pr S. Rheims, Lyon neurological hospital, and Pr Navarro, Paris (ICM), iEEG recordings in patients with epilepsy
- M-C Villeval and Frédéric Moisan, GATE CNRS, Lyon : Behavioral economics and economics of networks
- Rajesh Rao, Washington University, USA: POMDP models of social interactions
- John O’Doherty, Caltech, USA: testosterone influence on social decisions
- Christian Ruff, Department of economics, Zurich University: cTBS studies on moral choices
- Jorge Moll, D’Or Institute, Rio, Brazil: Altruistic motivation in social groups
- Erie Boorman, UC Davis, USA: Social learning models in group decision making 
- Karen Faith Berman, NIMH, NIH, USA : Hormonal and genetic influences on reward processing

 

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SCIENTIFIC DIFFUSION


- Editor of the book “Decision Neuroscience”, Academic Press, Elsevier, 2016
- Editor of the Handbook on “Reward and decision making”, Academic Press, published by Elsevier (2009)

 

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