Philippe LEFEVRE, PhD

Full Professor, Université catholique de Louvain

Head, Department of Mathematical Engineering (INMA)

Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics (ICTEAM) and Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS)
Avenue Georges Lemaître 4, bte L4.05.01
B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Belgium 
Phone: +32 10 47 23 82
Fax: +32 10 47 21 80
Directions: GPS coordinates : 50.66929, 4.624458
D-9 on the map (Euler is building 3a): click here
E-mail: Philippe.Lefevre@UCLouvain.be 
URL: http://perso.uclouvain.be/philippe.lefevre

RECENT EVENTS: 

  • Symposium on "Eye movements and perception". Speakers: Professors Marcus Missal, Kark Verfaillie and Guillaume Masson. Friday October 26th, 2012, 10:00-12:45. For details, click here.
  • PhD Thesis Sébastien Coppe: "Experimental and theoretical approaches to predictive eye movements". October 26th, 2012, 15:00, Auditorium Barb 92, Louvain-la-Neuve: click here.

 

PAST EVENTS: click here

OPEN POSITIONS: PhD and post-doctoral levels: click here

Biography 
  • 2011- : Full Professor, UCLouvain
  • 2009- : Head of the Department of Mathematical Engineering
  • 2007-2012: Chair, Program committe in Biomedical Engineering
  • 2006-2011 : Professor Biomedical Engineering, UCLouvain
  • 2003-2004: Visiting Scientist, National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda. 
  • 1997- 2006: Research Associate, FNRS.
  • 1995-1997: Postdoctoral fellow, Lab. of Sensorimotor Res., NEI, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD, USA.
  • 1993-1995: Postdoctoral Researcher, FNRS, CESAME, UCLouvain, Belgium.
  • 1992 : PhD in Applied Sciences, CESAME, UCLouvain, Belgium
  • 1990-1991: PhD student, Dept. Biomed. Eng., McGill Univ., Canada. 
  • 1983-1988: Electrical Engineer, UCLouvain, Belgium.

Research
Interests
  • Interaction between vision and the neural control of movement.
  • Modeling of the oculomotor system.
  • Experimental and clinical study of eye and head movements.
  • Eye-Hand coordination

Current
Research 
Projects 
  • Modeling the saccadic system. 
  • Experimental and theoretical study of the interaction between saccades and smooth pursuit eye movements. 
  • The role of prediction and anticipation in smooth pursuit and saccade programming 
  • Eye movements in Duane Retraction Syndrome type I.
  • Eye movements in cerebral palsied and premature children (JED).
  • Eye-Hand coordination in rhythmic tasks.
  • Influence of micro-gravity on eye-hand coordination (ESA).

Recent
Publications [2005-2012] 
  •  Blohm G, Missal M, Lefèvre P (2005). Processing of retinal and extraretinal signals for memory guided saccades during smooth pursuit. Journal of Neurophysiology, 93, 1510-1522.
  • Blohm G, Missal M., Lefèvre P (2005). Direct evidence for a position input to the smooth pursuit system. Journal of Neurophysiology, 94, 712-721.
  • Yuksel D, Optican LM, Lefèvre P (2005). Properties of saccades in Duane retraction syndrome. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 46: 3144-3151.
  • Schreiber C, Missal M, Lefèvre P (2006). Asynchrony between position and motion signals in the saccadic system. Journal of Neurophysiology, 95, 960-969.
  • Orban de Xivry JJ, Bennett S, Lefèvre P, Barnes GR (2006). Evidence for synergy between saccades and smooth pursuit during transient target disappearance. Journal of Neurophysiology, 95, 418 – 427. 
  • Ronsse R, Lefèvre P, Sepulchre R (2006). Sensorless Stabilization of Bounce Juggling. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 22, 147-159.
  • Blohm G, Optican LM, Lefèvre  P (2006). A model that integrates eye velocity commands to keep track of smooth eye displacements. Journal of Computational Neuroscience, 21, 51–70.
  • de Hemptinne C, Lefèvre P, Missal M (2006). Influence of cognitive expectation on the initiation of anticipatory and visual pursuit eye movements in the rhesus monkey. Journal of Neurophysiology, 95, 3770 - 3782.
  • Ronsse R, White O, Lefèvre P (2007). Computation of gaze orientation under unrestrained head movements. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 159, 158–169.
  • de Hemptinne C, Nozaradan S, Duvivier Q, Lefèvre P, Missal M (2007). How do primates anticipate uncertain future events? Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 4334-41.
  • Ronsse R, Lefèvre P, Sepulchre R (2007). Rhythmic Feedback Control of a Blind Planar Juggler. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 23, 790-802.
  • Bennett S, Orban de Xivry JJ, Barnes GR, Lefèvre P (2007). Target acceleration can be extracted and represented within the predictive drive to ocular pursuit. Journal of Neurophysiology, 98, 1405-1414.
  • Orban de Xivry JJ, Lefèvre P (2007). Saccades and pursuit: two outcomes of a single sensorimotor process. The Journal of Physiology, Topical Review, 584, 11-23.
  • Orban de Xivry JJ, Ramon M, Lefèvre P, Rossion B (2008). Reduced fixation on the upper area of personally familiar faces following acquired prosopagnosia, Journal of Neuropsychology, 2, 245–268.
  • de Hemptinne C, Lefèvre P, Missal M (2008). Neuronal bases of directional expectation and anticipatory pursuit. Journal of Neuroscience, 28, 4298-4310.
  • Ronsse R, Thonnard JL, Lefèvre P, Sepulchre R (2008). Control of bimanual rhythmic movements: trading efficiency for robustness depending on the context. Experimental Brain Research, 187, 193–205.
  • André T, De Wan M, Lefèvre P, Thonnard JL (2008). Moisture evaluator: a direct measure of fingertip skin hydration during object manipulation. Skin Research and Technology, 14, 385–389.

  • Ronsse R, Lefèvre P, Sepulchre R (2008). Robotics and neuroscience: a rhythmic interaction. Neural Networks, 21, 577-583.

  • Yüksel D, Orban de Xivry JJ, Lefèvre P (2008). Binocular coordination of saccades in Duane Retraction Syndrome. Vision Research, 48, 1972–1979.
  • White O, Bleyenheuft Y, Ronsse R, Smith A, Thonnard JL, Lefèvre  P (2008). Altered gravity highlights Central Pattern Generator mechanisms. Journal of Neurophysiology, 100, 2819-2824.
  • Orban de Xivry JJ, Missal M, Lefèvre P (2008). A dynamic representation of target motion drives predictive smooth pursuit during target blanking. Journal of Vision, 8(15):6, 1–13.
  • Badler JB, Lefèvre P, Missal M (2008). Anticipatory pursuit is influenced by a concurrent timing task. Journal of Vision, 8(16):5, 1–9.
  • Lefèvre P, Crevecoeur F, Lobet S and Thonnard JL (2008). A comparison between naïve and expert subjects in a ball throwing task. Archives of Spaggbowl, 136(141): 148-160.
  • Khan AZ, Blohm G, McPeek RM, Lefèvre P (2009). Differential influence of attention on gaze and head movements. Journal of Neurophysiology, 101, 198–206.

  • Ronsse R, Sternad D, Lefèvre P (2009). A computational model for rhythmic and discrete movements in uni- and bimanual coordination. Neural Computation, 21:5, 1335-1370. 

  • Crevecoeur F, Thonnard JL, Lefèvre P (2009). Forward models of inertial loads in weightlessness. Neuroscience, 161, 589-598.

  • Crevecoeur F, Thonnard JL, Lefèvre P (2009). Optimal integration of gravity in  trajectory planning of vertical pointing movements. Journal of Neurophysiology, 102, 786-796.

  • André T, Lefèvre P, Thonnard JL (2009). A continuous measure of fingertip friction during precision grip. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 179, 224-229.
  • Bleyenheuft Y, Lefèvre P, Thonnard JL (2009). Predictive mechanisms control grip force after impact in self-triggered perturbations. Journal of Motor Behavior, 41:5, 411-417.
  • Orban de Xivry JJ, Missal M, Lefèvre P (2009). Smooth pursuit performance during target blanking does not influence the trigger of predictive saccades. Journal of Vision, 9(11):7, 1–16.
  • André T, Lefèvre P, Thonnard JL (2010). Fingertip moisture is optimally modulated during object manipulation. Journal of Neurophysiology, 103, 402-408.
  • Daye PM, Blohm G, Lefèvre P (2010). Saccadic compensation for smooth eye and head movements during head-unrestrained 2D tracking. Journal of Neurophysiology, 103, 543-556.
  • Orban de Xivry JJ, Coppe S, Lefèvre P, Missal M (2010). Biological motion drives perception and action. Journal of Vision, 10(2):6, 1-11.
  • Van Belle G, de Graef P, Verfaillie K, Rossion B, Lefèvre P (2010). Face inversion impairs holistic perception: evidence from gaze-contingent stimulation. Journal of Vision, 10(5):10, 1-13.
  • Bennett SJ, Orban de Xivry JJ, Lefèvre P, Barnes GR (2010). Oculomotor prediction of accelerative target motion during occlusion: long-term and short-term effects. Experimental Brain Research, 204, 493-504.
  • Van Belle G, Ramon M, Lefèvre P, Rossion B (2010). Fixation patterns during recognition of personally familiar and unfamiliar faces. Frontiers in Psychology, 1(20):1-8.
  • Crevecoeur F, McIntyre J, Thonnard JL, Lefèvre P (2010). Movement stability under uncertain internal models of dynamics. Journal of Neurophysiology, 104, 1301-1313.  
  • Crevecoeur F, Thonnard JL, Lefèvre P (2010). Sensorimotor mapping for anticipatory grip force modulation. Journal of Neurophysiology, 104, 1401-1408.
  • Badler JB, Lefèvre P, Missal M (2010). Causality attribution biases oculomotor responses. Journal of Neuroscience, 30, 10517-10525. 
  • Coppe S, Orban de Xivry JJ, Missal M, Lefèvre P (2010). Biological motion influences the visuomotor transformation for smooth pursuit eye movements. Vision Research, 50, 2721-2728.
  • Blohm G, Lefèvre P (2010). Visuomotor velocity transformations for smooth pursuit eye movements. Journal of Neurophysiology, 104, 2103–2115.
  • Van Belle G, Lefèvre P, Laguesse R, Busigny T, de Graef P, Verfaillie, K, Rossion B (2010). Feature-based processing of personally familiar faces in prosopagnosia: Evidence from eye-gaze contingency. Behavioural Neurology, 23, 255-257.
  • Yüksel D, Orban de Xivry JJ, Lefèvre P (2010). Review of the major findings about Duane Retraction Syndrome (DRS) leading to an updated form of classification. Vision Research, 50, 2334-2347.
  • Khan AZ, Lefèvre P, Heinen SJ, Blohm G (2010). The default allocation of attention is broadly ahead of smooth pursuit. Journal of Vision, 10(13):7, 1-17.
  • Crevecoeur F, Sepulchre RJ, Thonnard JL, Lefèvre P (2011). Improving the state estimation for optimal control of stochastic processes subject to multiplicative noise. Automatica, 47, 591–596.
  • André T, Lévesque V, Hayward V, Lefèvre P, Thonnard JL (2011). Effect of skin hydration on the dynamics of fingertip gripping contact. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 8(64):1574-83.
  • White O, Thonnard JL, Wing AM, Bracewell RM, Diedrichsen J, Lefèvre P (2011). Grip force regulates hand impedance to optimize object stability in high impact loads. Neuroscience, 189, 269–276.

  • Van Belle G, Busigny T, Lefèvre P, Joubert S, Felician O, Gentile F, 
    Rossion B (2011). Impairment of holistic face perception following 
    right occipito-temporal damage in prosopagnosia: converging evidence 
    from gaze-contingency. Neuropsychologia,     49(11):3145-50.

  • Crevecoeur F, Giard T, Thonnard JL, Lefèvre P (2011). Adaptive control of grip force to compensate for static and dynamic torques during object manipulation. Journal of Neurophysiology, 106:2973-2981.
  • Cirilli L, de Timary P, Lefèvre P, Missal M (2011). Individual differences in impulsivity predict anticipatory eye movements. PLoS ONE, 6(10): e26699.
  • Daye PM, Blohm G, Lefèvre P (2012). Target motion direction influence on tracking performance and head tracking strategies in head-unrestrained conditions. Journal of Vision, 12(1):23, 1-12.
  • Badler JB, Lefèvre P, Missal M (2012). Divergence between oculomotor and perceptual causality. Journal of Vision, 12(5):3,1-15.
  • Leclercq G, Blohm G, Lefèvre P (2012). Accurate planning of manual tracking requires a 3D visuomotor transformation of velocity signals. Journal of Vision, 12(5):6, 1-21.
  • Delhaye B, Hayward V, Lefèvre P, Thonnard JL (2012). Texture-induced vibrations in the forearm during tactile exploration. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2012.00037.
  • White O, Lefèvre P, Wing AM, Bracewell RM, Thonnard JL (2012). Active collisions in altered gravity reveal eye-hand coordination strategies. PLoS ONE, 7(9): e44291.
  • Coppe S, Orban de Xivry JJ, Yüksel D, Ivanoiu A, Lefèvre P (2012). Dramatic impairment of prediction due to frontal lobe degeneration. Journal of Neurophysiology, 108:2957-2966.
  • de Hemptinne C, Ivanoiu A, Lefèvre P, Missal M (2013). How does Parkinson's disease and aging affect temporal expectation and the implicit timing of eye movements? Neuropsychologia, 51:340–348.
  • Adams MJ, Johnson SA, Lefèvre P, Lévesque V, Hayward V, André T, Thonnard JL (2013). Finger pad friction and its role in grip and touch. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 10: 20120467.
  • Leclercq G, Lefèvre P, Blohm G (2013). 3D kinematics using dual quaternions: theory and applications in neuroscience. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, in press.
  • Ego C, Orban de Xivry JJ, Nassogne MC, Yüksel D, Lefèvre P (2013). The saccadic system does not compensate for the immaturity of the
    smooth pursuit system during visual tracking in children. Journal of Neurophysiology, in press.

Teaching 
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING: for an overview (french), click here
  • LFSAB 1225      Introduction au génie biomédical
  • LFSAB 1506      Projet en génie biomédical (coordinateur)
  • LFSAB 1221    Introduction au monde du vivant (coord.)
  • LGBIO 2220    Séminaire de génie biomédical
  • LGBIO 2060      Modélisation de systèmes biologiques 
  • LGBIO 2070      Organes artificiels et réhabilitation
  • LINMA 2120   Séminaire de théorie des systèmes

People 
  • Alexandre J.F. Coimbra obtained his PhD in 1999. He is currently working at Merck & co. (West Point, PA).
  • Sophie de Brower obtained her PhD in 2001. She is currently working for Socar Research, a clinical research company.
  • Gunnar Blohm obtained his PhD in 2004. He obtained a Marie Curie Fellowship and did a Postdoc at York University with Doug Crawford. He is currently Assistant Professor at Queen's University (Kingston, Canada).
  • Renaud Ronsse obtained his PhD in 2007. He did a first postdoc in the lab of Stephan Swinnen (KULeuven, Belgium) and a second postdoc in the lab of Auke Ijspeert (Biorobotics Lab., EPFL). Renaud has been appointed Professor at UCLouvain in 2011 (iMMC).
  • Olivier White obtained his PhD in 2007. He did a postdoc in the lab of Jörn Diedrichsen (Bangor, UK). He worked for the European Science Foundation (ESF) and is now Associate Professor at the Université de Bourgogne (Dijon).
  • Jean-Jacques Orban de Xivry obtained his PhD in 2007. He is currently doing a postdoc in the lab of Reza Shadmehr (JHU, USA). He recently obtained a fellowship from IRSIB ("Brains Back to Brussels" program) and joined UCLouvain in 2011.
  • Demet Yuksel obtained her PhD in 2009. She is currently the head of the strabology unit at St Luc Hospital (UCLouvain, Belgium).
  • Frédéric Crevecoeur obtained his PhD in 2010. He is currently doing a postdoc in the lab of Steve Scott (Queen's University, Kingston, Canada).
  • Thibaut André obtained his PhD in 2010. He is currently working for Arsalis (a spin-off of UCLouvain).
  • Pierre Daye obtained his PhD in 2010. He is currently doing a postdoc at the National Eye Institute.
  • Jeremy Badler obtained his PhD in 2011
  • Guillaume Leclercq started his PhD in 2007. He is an Eng. in Applied Mathematics (UCLouvain, Belgium).
  • Sébastien Coppe obtained his PhD in 2012.
  • Goedele Van Belle started a Post Doc in 2009 (co-supervision: Dr Bruno Rossion). She holds a PhD in psychology from KULeuven. She is currently Chargée de recherches FNRS (UCLouvain). 
  • Benoit Delhaye started his PhD in 2009. He is an Electromechanical Engineer (UCLouvain, Belgium).
  • Caroline Ego started her PhD in 2009. She is a Biomedical Engineer (UCLouvain, Belgium).
  • Thibault Giard started his PhD in 2010. He is a Biomedical Engineer (UCLouvain, Belgium)

Links

ESA project

Dynamical systems, control and optimization (Interuniv. Attraction Pole)
Fondation JED
INMA
UCLouvain


Author:  Philippe LEFEVRE