Anne Kavounoudias is a Professor at Aix-Marseille University, where she serves as Director of the Body & Multisensoriality team within the NeuroMarseille Institute. She also holds the position of Director of EUR Neuroschool, a University Research School that brings together L3, Master and PhD programs in Neurosciences from Aix-Marseille University. Since 2020, she has served as Deputy Director of the NeuroMarseille Institute and previously served as a member of CNU section 69 (2015-2022) and the Board of the Doctoral School of Life and Health Sciences (2019-2021). Dr. Kavounoudias' research focuses on the mechanisms and neural bases underlying multisensory integration in the representation and control of human body movement. Her work sits at the interface of neurophysiology and experimental psychology, examining how muscular proprioceptive, tactile, and visual sensitivities interact to ensure movement perception and control. She conducts studies with healthy adults, elderly subjects to understand adaptive processes during non-pathological aging, and individuals who are transiently deafferented (through immobilization) or permanently (amputees, deafferented patients). Her research methodology incorporates functional brain imaging (fMRI), structural imaging (DWI), MR-spectroscopy of the brain and spinal cord, psychophysical approaches, electromyography, and multisensory stimulations including tendon vibration, visual vection, and tactile vection. Current projects include the ANR ASTRID 'PhantomPain' Project (2021-2025) on phantom pain in amputees, an AMIDEX Excellence Incubator Project (2020-2021) on new therapies for phantom pain, and previous projects like 'DISREMO' (2017-2019) and the ANR JCJC 'MULTISENSE' project (2012-2016). Analysis of Dr. Kavounoudias' recent publications reveals a consistent evolution in her research focus, with increasingly sophisticated neuroimaging approaches to study multisensory integration. Her work demonstrates growing attention to age-related changes in sensory processing and expanding applications to rehabilitation contexts, particularly for amputees and individuals with movement disorders. The publications show a progression from basic research on sensory integration mechanisms to more translational work with clinical applications. Her research has been supported by multiple competitive grants including: ANR ASTRID 'PhantomPain' Project (2021-2025) - Phantom pain in amputees: understanding its central and peripheral origins AMIDEX Excellence Incubator Project (2020-2021) - New therapy for phantom pain after amputation 'DISREMO' Project (2017-2019) - Exploration of audio-haptic interactions in texture perception ANR JCJC 'MULTISENSE' Project (2012-2016) - Multisensory integration and kinesthetic perception As Director of EUR Neuroschool, Dr. Kavounoudias oversees graduate education in neuroscience at Aix-Marseille University, coordinating L3, Master and PhD programs. She previously served as Co-director of the ICN PhD Program and Co-manager of the Brain Master Program, both initiatives aimed at internationalizing neuroscience education at AMU. Dr. Kavounoudias leads the Body & Multisensoriality research team at the NeuroMarseille Institute, where her group investigates the neural mechanisms of body representation and movement control. Her laboratory employs a multidisciplinary approach combining neuroimaging, psychophysics, and electrophysiological techniques to study sensory integration in both healthy and clinical populations, with particular focus on developing rehabilitation approaches for movement disorders.
