About

Geneviève Albouy began her research career at the Universities of Lyon (France) and Liège (Belgium), where from 2004 to 2008 she conducted neuroimaging studies examining the influence of sleep on motor memory consolidation. She then completed her postdoctoral research at the University of Montreal (Canada) between 2009 and 2014, focusing specifically on the functional roles of the hippocampus and the striatum in motor memory consolidation. In 2015, she became an Assistant Professor in the Movement Sciences Department at KU Leuven (Belgium). Since January 2021, she has been an Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology at the University of Utah. Her research investigates the plasticity processes that support memory consolidation, with a particular emphasis on the neural mechanisms underlying sleep-dependent motor memory consolidation.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Medicine
• Developmental psychology
• Internal medicine
• Audiology

Selected publications

• No evidence for an effect of M1 cTBS on schema-mediated motor sequence learning

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2026-03-16

  articleSenior author

  The availability of a pre-existing cognitive-motor schema accelerates the learning of novel motor information. The encoding of a novel schema-compatible, compared to -incompatible, motor sequence was recently shown to be supported by the left primary motor cortex (M1). However, causal evidence for the role of M1 in schema-mediated motor learning is currently lacking. In the current study, we aimed to address this knowledge gap by transiently disrupting M1 using inhibitory continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS). Forty-eight young healthy participants learned a bimanual motor sequence task (cognitive-motor schema). Twenty-four hours later, they learned a novel sequence whose ordinal schematic structure was compatible with that learned on the previous day. To provide causal evidence for a role of M1 on such schema-mediated motor learning, we applied either cTBS or sham stimulation to the left M1 immediately prior to encoding the schema-compatible novel sequence. Electromyography results showed no evidence for an effect of left M1 cTBS on corticospinal excitability as measured with motor-evoked potentials. Similarly, behavioral results indicated no significant effect of cTBS on subsequent schema-mediated motor sequence learning. Altogether, the present data do not provide evidence for a causal role of the left M1 in schema-mediated motor sequence learning.

  PublisherDOI

• Dataset for manuscript "A common temporal structure between tasks from different domains does not benefit memory consolidation"

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-05-18

  datasetOpen accessSenior author

  Dataset containing the raw behavioral data corresponding to the manuscript "A common temporal structure between tasks from different domains does not benefit memory consolidation", as well as demographics, sleep and vigilance characterics and behavioral analysis scripts.

  PublisherDOI

• Targeted memory reactivation during sleep modulates spindle and slow wave density, but not motor memory consolidation, in Parkinson’s disease

  medRxiv · 2026-04-27

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Motor memory retention is impaired in Parkinson’s disease (PD), affecting long-term rehabilitation outcomes. It appears that NREM sleep could be beneficial for consolidation processes in PD, and could be leveraged with non-invasive sleep interventions. This study examined the effect of auditory targeted memory reactivation (TMR) during NREM sleep on the retention of a motor sequence learning finger tapping task in 20 PD and 20 healthy older adults (HOA). TMR was applied during a 2-hour nap and its effect on motor retention was post-nap, after 24-hours and with a dual-task. The impact of TMR on sleep electrophysiology was also evaluated. Results showed no effect of TMR on motor retention or dual-tasking, with no difference between the groups. However, the TMR intervention did increase slow-wave density and decreased spindle density in both groups, and slow-wave amplitude during the presentation of the auditory cues was positively associated with performance in HOA. In conclusion, TMR applied during a 2 hour nap did not enhance motor retention, but the changes in sleep physiological features could be linked to a possible underlying effect on memory processing that warrants further investigation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Targeted reactivation of motor and declarative memories linked via higher-order associations

  2026-04-29

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Symposium Session 3 - Hippocampus and sequential behaviors across different timescales and memory domains in humans

  2026-05-08

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The order, but not the structure, of cross-domain learning influences memory consolidation

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2026-01-14

  articleSenior author

  Everyday activities often require learning sequences that necessitate the involvement of both the declarative and the procedural memory domains. Previous research has shown that a learning structure that is common across tasks from different domains can improve learning and resistance to interference. However, it remains unknown whether such shared learning structure can enhance longer-term memory retention. To address this question, forty-eight healthy adults participated in a pre-registered study in which they learned both an object sequence task (declarative learning) and a motor sequence task (procedural learning) in two separate sessions separated by 4h. Participants were assigned to either an associated group, where the two tasks shared a common learning structure - that consisted of a specific mapping between finger movements and object categories across learning sessions - or an unassociated group with no such cross-domain shared structure. Memory retention was assessed with a 24h retest session on both tasks. Contrary to our predictions, a shared higher-order structure between tasks from different domains did not enhance memory retention. Exploratory follow-up analyses revealed that the order the tasks were learned (i.e., object or motor first), rather than their structural overlap, influenced performance. Specifically, learning the motor task before the object task impaired the consolidation of the object task irrespective of whether the tasks shared a common learning structure or not. This effect was unidirectional as learning the object task before the motor task had no effect on the consolidation of the motor task. Altogether, the current findings suggest that the order of cross-domain learning experiences rather than their structure influences memory consolidation.

  PublisherDOI

• Effects of an acute exercise intervention on levels of hippocampal GABA and Glx in young and older adults

  2026-05-04

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Children exhibit greater persistence of motor learning-related patterns of hippocampal activity into post-task wake epochs

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2026-04-04

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Previous research has demonstrated that children exhibit superior - as compared to adults - consolidation of newly acquired motor sequences across post-learning periods of wakefulness. Given that consolidation is thought to be supported by the reactivation of learning-related patterns of brain activity during the rest periods following active task practice, we hypothesized that the childhood advantage in offline consolidation may be linked to greater reactivation during post-learning wakefulness. Twenty-two children (7-11 years) and 23 adults (18-30 years) completed two sessions of a motor sequence learning task, separated by a 5-hour wake interval. Multivoxel analyses of task-related and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were employed to assess the persistence of learning-related patterns of neural activity into post-task rest epochs, reflective of reactivation processes. Behavioral results demonstrated the previously reported childhood advantage in offline consolidation over a post-learning wake interval. Imaging results revealed that children exhibited greater persistence of task-related hippocampal – but not putaminal - activity into post-learning rest as compared to adults. These findings suggest that the childhood advantage in awake motor memory consolidation may be supported, at least partially, by enhanced reactivation of task-dependent hippocampal activity patterns during offline epochs.

  PublisherDOI

• Motor cortical areas facilitate schema-mediated integration of new motor information into memory

  Imaging Neuroscience · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract New information is rapidly learned when it is compatible with pre-existing knowledge, that is, with a previously acquired schematic representation of the learned information. The influence of pre-established schema on learning has been extensively studied in the declarative memory domain, where it was shown that schema-compatible information could be rapidly assimilated into neocortical storage, bypassing the slow hippocampo-neocortical memory transfer process. Schema-mediated learning was recently examined in the motor memory domain; however, its neural substrates remain unknown. The goal of this study was to address this knowledge gap using both univariate and multivariate analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired in 60 young healthy participants during the practice of a motor sequence that was either compatible or incompatible with a previously acquired cognitive–motor schema. Consistent with the literature, our behavioural results suggest that performance of sequential movements was enhanced when practice occurred in a context that was compatible with the previously acquired schema. Brain imaging results show that practice in a schema-compatible context specifically recruited the left primary motor cortex and resulted in a decrease in connectivity between the bilateral motor cortex and a set of task-relevant brain regions including the hippocampus, striatum, and cerebellum. Temporally fine-grained MRI analyses suggest that multivoxel activation patterns in the primary motor and the premotor cortices were modulated by schema-compatibility, with greater pattern similarity detected for sequence elements corresponding to and surrounding novel sequential movements under schema-compatible compared with schema-incompatible conditions. Altogether, these results suggest that motor cortical regions facilitate schema-mediated integration of novel movements into memory.

  PublisherDOI

• Sleep Spindle-Locked Targeted Memory Reactivation Enhances Declarative Memory Consolidation

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2026-05-12

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Study Objectives Sleep spindles are implicated in memory consolidation. Yet direct evidence linking spindle dynamics to declarative memory outcomes remains limited. We thus tested whether targeted memory reactivation (TMR) time-locked to sleep spindles enhances declarative memory, and whether the temporal organization of stimulated spindles–trains versus isolated events–is selectively associated with distinct memory outcomes. Methods Twenty-eight healthy young adults learned image locations from two categories (animals, clothing) in a grid, each paired with a distinct auditory cue. During overnight NREM sleep, one cue was replayed time-locked to spindles detected in real-time using a closed-loop system (TMR condition); the other served as the non-reactivated control (No-TMR condition). Category-cue assignment was counterbalanced. Post-sleep recall, recognition accuracy, and movement time were assessed. Results Recall accuracy was significantly higher in the TMR than the No-TMR condition (93.96% vs. 90.61%, p = .024), whereas recognition accuracy ( p = .139) and movement time ( p = .651) did not differ. Stimulation intensity within spindle trains correlated with the TMR effect on recall (Spearman ρ = .531, p = .004), whereas the proportion of isolated spindle stimulations correlated with the TMR effect on recognition (ρ = .563, p = .002). Cross-associations were not significant. Conclusions Spindle-locked TMR enhances recall-based declarative memory retention. The selective association between spindle temporal clustering and memory outcomes suggests that train-embedded and isolated spindles support different aspects of memory consolidation, highlighting spindle temporal context as a functionally relevant dimension of sleep-dependent memory processing.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Pierre Maquet

  University of Liège

  117 shared

• Julien Doyon

  Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital

  110 shared

• Bradley R. King

  University of Utah

  110 shared

• Nina Dolfen

  KU Leuven

  97 shared

• Stephan P. Swinnen

  KU Leuven

  92 shared

• Gilles Vandewalle

  89 shared

• Julie Carrier

  Sinai Hospital

  85 shared

• Thien Thanh Dang‐Vu

  Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal

  67 shared

Labs

• Sleep and Motor Memory LabPI

Education

• Post-doctorate, Psychology

  University of Montreal

  2014

• Ph.D. , Neuroscience

  University of Lyon and University of Liege

  2008

• Master of Science

  University of Lyon and University of Liege

  2004

• Bachelor of Science

  University of Lyon

  2002