Virginie Sterpenich

Function: Senior researcher – Privat Docent — “Sleep & Cognition” Lab (Pr. Sophie Schwartz)

Affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Basic Neurosciences (UniGE)

Keywords: sleep, cognition, memory, emotion, decoding, adolescent, screen use

Short Biography

Virginie Sterpenich is a biologist who completed her studies at the University of Liège in Belgium. She earned her PhD in Pierre Maquet’s laboratory, where she focused on the role of sleep in emotional memory consolidation. After completing her doctoral work, she moved to Geneva, Switzerland, to undertake a postdoctoral position in Sophie Schwartz’s lab, concentrating on the regulation of emotions during sleep.

In 2020, she earned a Master’s degree in Pathologies of Wake and Sleep in Children from the University Paris-Diderot. In 2022, she was awarded the title of Privat-Docent at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva. She also teaches several courses on neuroscience and sleep at the Faculties of Medicine and Psychology.

In addition to her academic work, she serves as Manager of Clinical and Sleep Research at Campus Biotech. Her research focuses on uncovering the brain mechanisms by which sleep reactivates emotional memory traces, using a combination of EEG and fMRI techniques. Virginie is also involved in studying sleep quality in adolescents, a critical developmental period, and conducts classroom-based studies to explore this topic in real-world settings.

Key Publications

• Sterpenich V., Perogamvros L., Tononi G., & Schwartz S. (2020). Fear in dreams and in wakefulness: Evidence for day/night affective homeostasis. Human Brain Mapping. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31663236/.
• Perrault AA., Bayer L., Peuvrier M, Afyouni A, Ghisletta P, Brockmann C, Spiridon M, Hulo Vesely S, Haller DM, Pichon S, Perrig S, Schwartz S, & Sterpenich V. (2019). Reducing the use of screen electronic devices in the evening is associated with improved sleep and daytime vigilance in adolescents. Sleep. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31260534/.
• Sterpenich V., Albouy G, Darsaud A, Schmidt C, Vandewalle G, Dang Vu TT, Desseilles M, Phillips C, Degueldre C, Balteau E, Collette F, Luxen A, Maquet P. (2009). Sleep promotes the neural reorganization of remote emotional memory. Journal of Neuroscience. https://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/16/5143.
• Sterpenich V., Albouy G, Boly M, Vandewalle G, Darsaud A, Balteau E, Dang-Vu TT, Desseilles M, D’Argembeau A, Gais S, Rauchs G, Schabus M, Degueldre C, Luxen A, Collette F, Maquet P. (2007). Sleep-related hippocampo-cortical interplay during emotional memory recollection. PLoS Biology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17958471/.

Media

Contact

Mail: virginie.sterpenich@unige.ch
Tel: +41 22 37 90 740
Website : https://cisa-unige.ch/sterpenich-virginie/
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2125-833X
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/virginie-sterpenich-194926185