I completed my PhD at NeuroSpin (CEA) under the supervision of Dr Marion Noulhiane, after a master degree in Cognitive Neurosciences from Sorbonne University. My work, part of the HippoXia project (Scientific Director: Dr Marion Noulhiane), focused on the neural adaptability of the hippocampus to voluntary intermittent hypoxia, combining multimodal neuroimaging (MRI, rs-fMRI) and episodic memory assessments in a cohort of freedivers.

While hypoxia has detrimental effects on the nervous system, the performance of freedivers suggests that the brain has adaptive mechanisms to low oxygen supply. Freediving sports provide a natural model for studying the effects of repeated hypoxic exposure on brain function in healthy individuals. In particular, the hippocampal formation, which is crucial for episodic memory, is very sensitive to hypoxia. The lactate produced during hypoxia could promote neurogenesis and contribute to compensatory mechanisms.

Our project aims to compare the anatomical-functional aspects and memory performance of “freedivers” versus “non-freedivers” to study the adaptive mechanisms in the brain after prolonged and repeated exposure to controlled hypoxia during training. This will shed light on the neural plasticity mechanisms underlying this adaptation and pave the way for therapeutic strategies for various neurological conditions that damage hippocampal formation, such as perinatal hypoxia, stroke, or amnesic ictus etc.