Clément François
- Laboratoire Parole et Langage (LPL)
- Institute of Language, Communication and the Brain (ILCB)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Aix Marseille Université (AMU)
Présentation
I am a CNRS researcher working in the Laboratoire Parole et Langage in Aix-Marseille University and the Institute of Language, Communication and the Brain.
At the LPL, I am co-head of the "Language and Speech Dynamics" team which focuses on the dynamics of speech and language processing, with a strong interest in the spatiotemporal dimension of language processes taking place at different temporal scales, both intra- and inter-individually.
I completed my Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Aix-Marseille University from 2007 to 2011 under the supervision of Dr. Schön. My Ph.D. research focused on implicit statistical learning of musical and linguistic structures in both musicians and non-musicians. I studied adults and children using behavioral and electrophysiological measures in both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. The results of this work gave rise to several publications in world-leading journals that became reference work in the music and neuroscience community. Importantly, my Ph.D. was part of a large research project supported by the French National Research Agency, led by Dr. Besson, which explored music-induced brain plasticity and transfer of training from music to language. From 2013 to 2018, I did a post-doc at the University of Barcelona with Dr. Rodriguez-Fornells (Cognition and Brain plasticity group, Bellvitge Hospital) and Dr. Bosch (Attention, Perception and Acquisition of Language Lab, Sant Joan de Déu Hospital).
I am currently studying the early development of language learning abilities, from phonological processing to word learning in newborns, infants and toddlers with typical and atypical neurodevelopment. Originally trained in human electrophysiology, my goal is to better understand the early developmental trajectories of language functions using longitudinal studies with multimodal neural and behavioral measures combined with daylong audio recordings.
University studies and diplomas
- 2024: Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches, Aix-Marseille University, “Towards an integrated neurodevelopmental model of language acquisition”. Advisor: Benjamin Morillon.
- 2011: Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Aix-Marseille University, “Implicit learning of linguistic and musical structures, a multi-methodological approach”. Advisor: Daniele Schön
- 2007: Master's Degree (Health Biology, Neurosciences specialty) Bordeaux II University
- 2005: Bachelor's degree (Cellular Biology and Physiopathology, Neurosciences specialty) Bordeaux II University
- 2003: Associate's Degree in Cellular Biology and Physiopathology, Bordeaux II University
Project coordination
- 2024. Fondation de France. Learning to communicate II: investigating the production and comprehension of gestures in 8- to 36-month-old infants (PI: C. François: 130 k€).
- 2023. Fondation de France. Learning to communicate I: investigating the production and comprehension of gestures in 8- to 36-month-old infants (PI: C. François: 52 k€).
- 2020. ANRJCJC BabyLang. From speech perception to vocabulary acquisition in infancy (PI: C. François: 260 k€).
- 2020. 80PRIME LangDev. De la perception de la parole chez le bébé à l’acquisition du vocabulaire chez l’enfant, un projet interdisciplinaire. (PI : C. François; L. Prévot; 44 k€ + 1 PhD contract).
- 2016. PERIS program.Reorganización estructural y funcional después de un infarto isquémico perinatal en niños de 3 años. (PI: C. François, 75 k€).
- 2016. MINECO, Spanish Government. Electrophysiological dynamics of speech segmentation in full-term and moderate preterm infants. (PI: C. François; 33.5 k€).
- 2013. FYSSEN foundation. Developmental dynamics of speech and song segmentation in full-term and pre-term neonates: an electrophysiological longitudinal project. (PI: C. François; 50 k€).
Project participation
- 2025. ANR-DFG FRAL, STN-brain-speech-seg: Cortical and subcortical activity during speech segmentation: Exploration from simultaneous cortex EEG and subthalamic nucleus LFP in Parkinson’s disease (PIs: S. Pinto, M. Barbe, 650 k€).
- 2025. ANRJCJC, Gestural Speech Perception: Learning to perceive speech by integrating gestural priors with deep learning (PI: T. Schatz, 335 k€).
- 2019. ANR2019, From lip- to script-reading: An integrative view of audio-visual associations in language processing. (PI: C. Pattamadilok, 342 k€).
- 2018. Sociedad Española de Neuroradiologia. Using fMRI and DTI to predict the success of cochlear implantation in children. (PI: M. Rebollo, 15 k€).
- 2016. La Marato-TV3-2016. Playing and Singing for the Recovering Brain: Efficacy of Enriched Social-Motivational Musical Interventions in Stroke Rehabilitation (PIs: Rodriguez-Fornells, T. Särkämö, J.L. Arcos; 399 k€).
- 2007. ANR-NEURO, 2007, MUSAPDYS (PI: M. Besson, 375 k€).
Evaluation Activities
- Expert HCERES 2024 (GRAMFC lab)
- Expert ANR (French National Research Agency) for "Young Researchers" calls.
- Expert MINECO (Spanish National Research Agency)
- Expert ERC 2018 for Starting grants
- Reviewer for journals: Science in Translational Medicine, Imaging Neuroscience, Human Brain Mapping, Developmental Science, Cognition, Communication Psychology, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, European Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, PlosOne, Cerebral Cortex, NeuroImage, NeuroImage Clinical, journal of Experimental Child Psychology, Scientific Reports, Brain and Cognition, Infant Behavior and Development, Neuropsychologia, Brain Research, Biological Psychology, Ear and Hearing, Music Perception, Cognitive and Affective Behavioral Neuroscience, Hearing Research, Language Learning etc...
Ph.D. Supervision
- Neus Ramos-Escobar [2016-2021]. Neural signatures of word learning and speech segmentation mechanisms in adults and children, an ERP and oscillatory approach. (co-supervised with Dr. Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells)
- Estelle Hervé [2020-2024]. De la perception de la parole chez le bébé à l’acquisition du vocabulaire chez l’enfant, un projet interdisciplinaire. (co-supervised with Prof. Laurent Prévot, 80PRIME CNRS grant)
- Giulia Danielou [2022-]. Impact of preterm birth on early language development. (ANR Babylang)
- Marielle Hababou-Bernson [2023-]. Development of word segmentation and form-meaning mapping in Moroccan Arabic learning Infants. (co-supervised with Dr. Isabelle Dautriche, ED356 grant)
- Marianne Schweitzer [2025-]. Spoken Dialogue and Language Modeling for the Study Children's Social Language Learning. (co-supervised with Dr. Abdellah Fourtassi, AMIDEX grant)
Post-doc Supervision
- Shreejata (Diya) Gupta [2022-]. Tracing the early developmental milestones of empathy through gestures in preverbal infants. (co-supervised with Dr. Isabelle Dautriche, ILCB post-doc grant).
Other Supervision
- Enara Garcia [2014]. Master 2 Neuroscience, University of Barcelona
- Nagore Navarrete-Herrero [2016]. Master 2 Neuroscience, University of Barcelona
- Thibault Beretti [2022]. Master 2 Neuroscience, Aix-Marseille University
- Lise Tonnellotto [2022]. Master 2 Neurophysiologie et Neurosciences cliniques, Université Toulouse 2
- William Rosalen [2023]. Master 2 Neuroscience, Aix-Marseille University
- Eulalie Pequay [2023]. Master 1 Neuroscience, Aix-Marseille University
- Lucie Delefosse-Touni [2024]. Master 2 Neuroscience, Aix-Marseille University
- Camille Oligeri [2024]. Master 1 Sciences Cognitives, Aix-Marseille University
- Jade Mallard [2024]. Master 1 Sciences Cognitives, Aix-Marseille University
- Milan Mazas [2025]. Master 2 Sciences Cognitives, Aix-Marseille University
- Emilie Noguéra [2026]. Master 2 Sciences Cognitives, Aix-Marseille University
Publications
Publications
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La musique comme outil thérapeutique durant la petite enfanceE. Bigand; G. Mick. Musique science et santé, Dunod, A paraître, Nouveaux chemins de la santé, 9782100800261
Chapitre d'ouvrage
hal-04367008
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Chapter 5. The role of prosody in early speech segmentation and word-referent mappingEdited by Pilar Prieto and Núria Esteve-Gibert. The Development of Prosody in First Language Acquisition, pp.79 - 100, 2018, ⟨10.1075/tilar.23.05tei⟩
Chapitre d'ouvrage
hal-03053945
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Influence of musical expertise on the perception of pitch duration and intensity variations in speech and harmonic soundsCorine Astésano; Mélanie Jucla. Neuropsycholinguistic Perspectives on Language Cognition: Essays in honour of Jean-Luc Nespoulous, Psychology Press, pp.88-102, 2017, 9780815356974
Chapitre d'ouvrage
hal-02159899
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Neurosciences de la musiqueEric Tardif et Pierre-André Doudin. Neurosciences et cognition, Perspectives pour les sciences de l'éducation, De Boeck superieur, 2016, 9782807301801
Chapitre d'ouvrage
hal-03104939
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Daily auditory environments in French-speaking infants: A longitudinal datasetWorkshop on Cognitive Modeling and Computational Linguistics, Aug 2024, Bangkok, Thailand. pp.132-151
Communication dans un congrès
hal-04671817
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The Badalona Corpus An Audio, Video and Neuro-Physiological Conversational DatasetLanguage Resources and Evaluation Conference, 2022, Marseille, France
Communication dans un congrès
hal-03657477
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Towards an integrated neurodevelopmental model of language acquisitionCognitive science. Aix-marseille University, 2024
HDR
tel-04737446
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