All Members

Véronique BOULENGER

Co-head of team DENDY
CNRS Researcher (with Habilitation)

 04 72 72 79 24

veronique.boulenger@cnrs.fr

Teams : DENDY  COVALI 

I am a CNRS researcher at the laboratoire Dynamique du Langage since 2010. My research, at the inferace between cognitive neuroscience and psycholinguistics, focuses on the neurobiological foundations of language with two major research axes:

1) In the framework of embodied cognition theories, my objective is to investigate how the sensory-motor system shapes the neural networks underlying phonological, semantic and syntactic processing of language, and to characterize the behavioral cross-talk between language and action.

2) My second line of research focuses on the contribution of brain rhythms to speech perception : I examine the tracking of speech rhythmic fluctuations by cortical oscillations, both in adults and in children with typical and atypical language development.

TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

RESEARCH INTERESTS

SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES

ADMINISTRATION ACTIVITIES

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

AWARDS AND RESEARCH GRANTS

PARTICIPATION IN RESEARCH PROJECTS

TEACHING

SUPERVISED THESES AND DISSERTATION

COLLABORATIONS

• DDL: Alice C. Roy, Mélanie Canault.

• Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal: Karim Jerbi.

• Équipe IMPACT, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon (INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292): Claudio Brozzoli, Alessandro Farnè.

• Équipe Codage neural et neuroingénierie des fonctions de parole, Institut de l'Audition, Paris: Sophie Bouton.

• Université du Québec à Trois Rivières : Édith Durand.

MAIN PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCES
SHOW LONG VERSION / SHORT VERSION

Boulenger, V., 2006, "Le Langage et l'Action: Dynamique des Liens Fonctionnels unissant Verbes d'Action et Contrôle Moteur", Thèse de Doctorat de Neuropsychologie, L2C2-ISC CNRS UMR 5230, Université Lumière Lyon 2  (pdf)

Boulenger, V., 2014, "Cartographie électrophysiologique du langage et de la motricité", in Le langage au bout des doigts, Frak, V. & Nazir, T. (eds), Québec, Presses de l'Université du Québec, pp. 33-59  (cover)

Nazir, T., Fargier, R., Aravena, P. & Boulenger, V., 2012, "When words trigger activity in the brain’s sensory and motor systems: It is not Remembrance of Things Past ", in Language and action in cognitive neuroscience , Coello, Y. & Bartolo, A. (eds), Psychology Press, pp. 307-318  (cover)

Hincapié-Casas, A., Guiraud, H., Laaksonen, H., Jerbi, K. & Boulenger, V., in prep, "Neural coupling to fundamental frequency changes in natural speech: a MEG study", xx, xx

Sayyahi, F. & Boulenger, V., 2022, "A temporal-based therapy for children with inconsistent phonological disorder: a case-series", Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, xx (doi)

Martel, M., Boulenger, V., Koun, E., Finos, L., Farnè, A. & Roy, A., 2022, "Body representation plasticity is altered in Developmental Coordination Disorder", Neuropsychologia, 166 (online article)

Boulenger, V., Finos, L., Koun, E., Salemme, R., Desoche, C. & Roy, A., 2022, "Up right, not right up: primacy of verticality in both language and movement", Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Motor neuroscience), 16:981330 (online article)

Thibault, S., Py, R., Gervasi, A., Salemme, R., Koun, E., Lövden, M., Boulenger, V., Roy, A. & Brozzoli, C., 2021, "Tool use and language share syntactic processes and neural patterns in the basal ganglia ", Science, 374:6569 (see article)

Hincapié-Casas, A., Lajnef, T., Pascarella, A., Guiraud, H., Laaksonen, H., Bayle, D., Jerbi, K. & Boulenger, V., 2021, "Neural oscillations track natural but not artificial fast speech: Novel insights from speech-brain coupling using MEG", NeuroImage, 244 (online article)

Martel, M., Boulenger, V., Koun, E., Finos, L., Farnè, A. & Roy, A., 2021, "Body representation plasticity is altered in Developmental Coordination Disorder", bioRxiv, https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.16.456453v1 (bioRxiv)

Hincapié-Casas, A.S., Lajnef, T., Pascarella, A., Guiraud, H., Laaksonen, H., Bayle, D., Jerbi, K. & Boulenger, V., 2020, "Neural oscillations track natural but not artificial fast speech: Novel insights from speech-brain coupling using MEG", bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.20.344895  (bioRxiv)

Boulenger, V., Martel, M., Bouvet, C., Finos, L., Krzonowski, J., Farnè, A. & Roy, A., 2020, "Feeling better: tactile verbs speed up tactile detection", Brain and Cognition, 142:105582 (online article)

Guiraud, H., Bedoin, N., Krifi-Papoz, S., Herbillon, V., Caillot-Bascoul, A., Gonzalez-Monge, S. & Boulenger, V., 2018, "Don't speak too fast! Processing of fast rate speech in children with specific language impairment", PLoS ONE, 13:1 (online article)  (pdf)

Pulvermüller, F., Moseley, R., Egorova, N., Shebani, Z. & Boulenger, V., 2014, "Motor cognition - Motor semantics: Action Perception Theory of cognitive cortical function", Neuropsychologia, 55, pp. 71-84  (pdf, cover)

Dekerle, M., Boulenger, V., Hoen, M. & Meunier, F., 2014, "Multi talker background and semantic priming effect", Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, pp. 878  (pdf)

Fargier, R., Paulignan, Y., Boulenger, V., Monaghan, P., Reboul, A. & Nazir, T., 2012, "Learning to associate novel words with motor actions: Language-induced motor activity following short training", Cortex, 48:7, pp. 888-899  (pdf)

Boulenger, V., Shtyrov, Y. & Pulvermüller, F., 2012, "When do you grasp the idea? MEG evidence for instantaneous idiom understanding", NeuroImage, 59:4, pp. 3502-3513  (pdf)

Fargier, R., Ménoret, M., Boulenger, V., Nazir, T. & Paulignan, Y., 2012, "Grasp it loudly! Supporting actions with semantically congruent spoken action words.", PLoS ONE, 7:1, pp. e30663  (pdf)

Boulenger, V., Hoen, M., Jacquier, C. & Meunier, F., 2011, "Interplay between acoustic/phonetic and semantic processes during spoken sentence comprehension: an ERP study", Brain and Language, 116:2, pp. 51-63  (pdf)

Boulenger, V., Hoen, M., Ferragne, E., Pellegrino, F. & Meunier, F., 2010, "Real-time lexical competitions during speech-in-speech comprehension", Speech Communication, 52:3, pp. 246-253  (pdf)

Boulenger, V. & Nazir, T., 2010, "Interwoven functionality of the brain's action and language systems", The Mental Lexicon (Special Issue 'Words and their Meaning: A deep delve from surface distribution into underlying neural representation' 5:2), 118, pp. 231-254  (pdf)

Boulenger, V., Hauk, O. & Pulvermüller, F., 2009, "Grasping ideas with the motor system: Semantic somatotopy in idiomatic and literal sentence comprehension ", Cerebral Cortex, 19(8), pp. 1905-1914  (pdf)

Boulenger, V., Mechtouff, L., Thobois, S., Broussolle, E., Jeannerod, M. & Nazir, T., 2008, "Word processing in Parkinson's disease is impaired for action verbs but not for concrete nouns", Neuropsychologia, 46, pp. 743-756  (pdf)

Nazir, T., Boulenger, V., Roy, A., Silber, B., Jeannerod, M. & Paulignan, Y., 2008, "Language-induced motor perturbations during the execution of a reaching movement", Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 61:6, pp. 933-943  (pdf)

Boulenger, V., Silber, B., Roy, A., Paulignan, Y., Jeannerod, M. & Nazir, T., 2008, "Subliminal display of action words interferes with motor planning: A combined EEG and kinematic study", Journal of Physiology Paris, 102, pp. 130-136  (pdf)

Boulenger, V., Decoppet, N., Roy, A., Paulignan, Y. & Nazir, T., 2007, "Differential effects of Age-of-Acquisition for concrete nouns and action verbs: Evidence for partly distinct representations?", Cognition, 103:1, pp. 131-146  (pdf)

Boulenger, V., Roy, A., Paulignan, Y., Deprez, V., Jeannerod, M. & Nazir, T., 2006, "Cross-talk between language processes and overt motor behavior in the first 200 msec of processing", Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18:10, pp. 1607-1615  (pdf)

Guiraud, H., Hincapié, A.S., Jerbi, K. & Boulenger, V., 2018, "Perception de la parole et oscillations cérébrales chez les enfants neurotypiques et dysphasiques ", actes de 32èmes Journées d'Études sur la Parole, Aix en Provence, 4-8 juin, pp. 222-230  (pdf)

Guiraud, H., Ferragne, E., Bedoin, N., Krifi-Papoz, S., Herbillon, V., Bascoul, A., Gonzalez-Monge, S. & Boulenger, V., 2014, "Perception de la parole rapide chez les enfants présentant une dysphasie expressive", actes de 30èmes Journées d'Études sur la Parole, Le Mans, France, 23-27 juin 2014, pp. 248-256  (pdf)

Boulenger, V., 2022, "From tactile perception to tool use: on the sensorimotor grounding of semantics and syntax", proc. of Workshop “Cognitive Linguistics and Cognitive Neuroscience”, 9th International Conference of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association , Erfurt, Germany (online conference), March 3rd (abstract)

Boulenger, V., 2010, "Quand le système moteur vient à la rencontre du langage: le traitement des verbes d'action.", actes de Société Française de Psychologie, Lille (France), 9 septembre 2010

Boulenger, V., 2009, "When language meets the motor system.", proc. of The Mental Lexicon Symposium, Lund University (Sweden), 9 décembre 2009

Boulenger, V., Hauk, O. & Pulvermüller, F., 2008, "Grasping ideas with the motor system: Semantic somatotopy in idiom comprehension. ", proc. of Annual Workshop on "Concepts, Actions and Objects: Functional and Neural Perspectives", Rovereto (Italy), 24-27 avril 2008

Boulenger, V., 2023, "Exploring new paths on the embodiment of language", Brain and Language Laboratory, Freie Universität, Berlin

Boulenger, V., 2022, "How tool use sheds light on embodied syntax", Séminaire Linglunch du Laboratoire de Linguistique Formelle, Paris (online), 7 avril

Boulenger, V., 2019, "Le cerveau au rythme de la parole: le cas des variations naturelles de débit", Séminaire du LPNC, Grenoble, 5 novembre

Boulenger, V., 2018, "Langage et cognition incarnée: le cas des verbes d'action.", Séminaire Embodiment, Laboratoire Parole et Langage, Aix en Provence, 12 janvier

Boulenger, V., 2018, "Oscillatory cortical dynamics during speech perception in adults: a MEG study.", Séminaire de l'Institut de Neuroscience des Systèmes, INSERM/Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, 29 mars

Boulenger, V., 2013, "Embodying language in action: Evidence for functional links between action word processing and the motor system", CRC workshop, Dusseldorf, 25 juin

Boulenger, V., Finos, L., Koun, E., Salemme, R., Desoche, C. & Roy, A., 2022, "Up right, not right up: primacy of verticality in both language and movement", ESLP: Embodied and Situated Language Processing, Lille, France, août 2022 (poster)

Thibault, S., Py, R., Gervasi, M., Lövden, M., Boulenger, V., Roy, A. & Brozzoli, C., 2021, "Train one, gain two: Tool use and syntactic skills improve each other via shared neural patterns in the basal ganglia", Neural Control of Movement, online, April 20nd-22th

Thibault, S., Boulenger, V., Roy, A. & Brozzoli, C., 2019, "Tool-use triggers improvements in syntactic abilities", Cogntive Neuroscience Society meeting, San Francisco, 23-26 march (poster)

Thibault, S., Boulenger, V., Roy, A. & Brozzoli, C., 2019, "Neural resources shared by language and tool-use: a basis for tool-use benefits over syntactic abilities", Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, USA, 19-23 octobre

Boulenger, V., Guiraud, H., Hincapié, A.S. & Jerbi, K., 2018, "Brain oscillations and speech rate variations: cortical tracking of syllable rate and fundamental frequency in children and adults", Society for the Neurobiology of Language, Québec, 16-18 août (poster)

De Pasquale, N., Boulenger, V. & Roy, A., 2018, "The role of vertical motion in pitch representation. A case study of two French metaphors involved in music description", CIM18: Meaning and Music, Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology, Poznan, Pologne, 17-20 octobre

Guiraud, H., Boulenger, V. & Pellegrino, F., 2017, "Cortical oscillations and language variation: Towards a cross-linguistic perspective", Linguistic Diversity Meets The Brain: Future directions in the language sciences, Workshop at the Department of Comparative Linguistics, University of Zurich, Zurich (Suisse), 15-17 mai

Guiraud, H., Hincapié, A.S., Jerbi, K. & Boulenger, V., 2016, "Coupling of Speech Rhythm and Cortical Oscillations: an MEG Study in Typically Developing Children", Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Genève, 26-30 juin (poster)

Hincapié, A.S., Laaksonen, H., Bayle, D., Guiraud, H., Jerbi, K. & Boulenger, V., 2016, "Tracking of Speech Rhythm by Neuronal Oscillations: an MEG Study of Normal vs Fast Speech Processing", Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Genève, 26-30 juin (poster)

Bertrand-Dubois, D., Martin, F., Laaksonen, H., Meunier, D., Hincapié, A.S., Zerouali, Y., Guiraud, H., Boulenger, V. & Jerbi, K., 2016, "Does speech processing induce changes in resting-state brain networks? A MEG study", Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Genève, 26-30 juin (poster)

Guiraud, H., Hincapié, A.S., Jerbi, K. & Boulenger, V., 2016, "Speech rhythm and cortical oscillations: a study in typically developing children", Cognitive Neuroscience Society Meeting, New York, 2-5 avril (poster)

Guiraud, H., Hincapié, A.S., Jerbi, K. & Boulenger, V., 2016, "Tracking of Speech Rhythm in Typically Developing Children: a MEG Study.", Journées Scientifiques du CERNEC, Saint-Sauveur, 12-13 mars (poster)

Guiraud, H., Hincapié, A.S., Jerbi, K. & Boulenger, V., 2016, "Tracking of speech rhythm by cortical oscillations: an MEG study in typically developing children", Society for the Neurobiology of Language, Londres, 17-20 août (poster)

Guiraud, H., Jerbi, K., Hincapié, A.S. & Boulenger, V., 2016, "How cortical oscillations track speech rhythm in children: a MEG study", BIOMAG 2016: The 20th international conference on biomagnetism, Séoul (Korea), 1-6 octobre (poster)

Hincapié, A.S., Laaksonen, H., Bayle, D., Guiraud, H., Jerbi, K. & Boulenger, V., 2016, "Shifts from normal to fast speech are associated with corresponding shifts in the frequency of neuronal entrainment: An MEG study", BIOMAG 2016: The 20th international conference on biomagnetism, Séoul (Korea), 1-6 octobre (poster)

Roy, A. & Boulenger, V., 2019, "La cognition incarnée : Un outil pour l’apprentissage des langues étrangères ?", 57, Lettre des Neurosciences, pp. 14-16

Boulenger, V. & Nazir, T., 2014, "Le langage incarné: Des liens entre sens des mots et système moteur", 46, Lettre des Neurosciences, pp. 10-12  (pdf)

Boulenger, V., 2012, "The neuroscience of your brain on fiction (written by Annie Murphy Paul)", New York Times, 17 mars (lien)