2023 projects funded by The Sense

The Sense is pleased to announce the four new projects that are internally funded for 2023. A notable aspect is that these interinstitutional projects are coordinated by researchers who did not receive funding last year. Among other things, three of these projects are coordinated by women.

Here are the four supported projects for this year:

1. Flavor

Developing EEG-based tools to understand flavour perception in response to sustainable food technologies.

Sandra Galle (HES-SO Valais-Wallis) et Chrysa Retsa (CHUV-UNIL)

We will develop a method that allows to measure and quantify cognitive response of dynamic flavor stimuli in a plant-based model system and correlate it with state-of-the-art flavor and sensory analysis. This tool would allow to generate an information matrix that enables new models to predict flavor perception as a function of flavor release, a powerful conclusion for product developers.

2. KiCk fMRI

Validating innovations to broaden the testable age-range for fMRI investigations in children.

Benedetta Franceschiello (HES-SO Valais-Wallis) et Juliane Schneider (CHUV-UNIL)

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive technique, which permits recording correlates of neural activity while participants perform behavioral tasks or during rest. However, fMRI is prone to motion artefacts.In normal behaving subjects this is rarely the case, as participants can be instructed to remain still. Kids are a particularly sensitive population, as they are more difficult to instruct and more prone to perform involuntary movements. In this project we develop a new technique, Ki-Ck fMRI, capable of reliably measuring fMRI in kids and successfully correcting for artefacts, providing an unprecedent advancement in the field.

3. MVO

Introducing virtual reality platforms to enable movement in patients with chronic lower back pain.

Antoine Widmer (HES-SO Valais-Wallis), Julien Favre (CHUV-UNIL) et Chantal Berna Renella (CHUV-UNIL)

MVO will explore how fear of performing specific movements impacts the way people suffering from lower back pain moves in specific situations. Virtual Reality will be used to induce sense of fear without the potential risk of getting hurt.

4. Wildcomm

Translating lab-based paradigms and hardware into field sites to understand multisensory communication.

Erica Van de Waal (UNIL) et Olivier Collignon (HES-SO Valais-Wallis)

“WildCom” will explore the appealing idea that the combinations of gestures and vocalizations were crucial in the emergence of the unique language abilities in humans. This question will be addressed by adapting experiments usually performed on humans in the lab directly for wild monkeys in their natural habitat.