Anh Tô-Lefebvre
Neuroscience student 🧠
Hello, I’m Anh - a Neuroscience student at Sorbonne University in France. I enjoy working in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, computational modelling and neural data analysis.
Besides my study, I’m collaborating on a project which aims to disentangle the effect of meaningfulness on working memory. This study grew out of my internship at the Cognitive Psychology Lab at the University of Zürich in Switzerland, and our manuscript is currently in preparation.
I’ll soon be joining a project at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, to investigate how stimulating alpha synchrony with TMS might enhance working memory performance.
Education
Master 2 Cognitive and Behavioural Neurosciences at Sorbonne Université
Focuses on social and emotional brain, neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, neural bases of cognitive functions, spatial navigation and memory.
Master 1 Neuropsychology and Clinical Neurosciences at Université Toulouse
Studied neuropsychology and neurobiology with a focus on synaptic plasticity and the genetic factors that contribute to neural function.
Examined neurological pathologies, with emphasis on the molecular, and behavioural changes.
Master 1 Cognitive Science at RPTU Kaiserslautern
Studied human cognition through visual perception, cognition, and linguistics.
Learned linear algebra, statistics, and experimental design.
Improved programming skills through courses on building and implementing experimental designs.
Discontinued the program to pursue a Master’s degree with a stronger focus on Neuroscience.
Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics at Universität Trier
Studied English and French linguistics with a focus on sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, cognition and language acquisition.
Improved linguistic analysis through computational linguistics and corpus analysis.
Exchange semesters at Lancaster University (UK) and University of Nantes (France).
Work Experience
Research Intern at Developmental Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
Supervisor: Prof. Torkel Klingberg, Dr. Julia Ericson, Karolinska Institutet
- Investigate the role of low-frequency TMS [10 Hz] applied on the Dorsal Attention Network (DAN) to strengthen alpha synchronisation which is important to enhance working memory performance.
- Responsible for programming, and data analysis.
- This project is part of Master Thesis.
Research Intern at Cognitive Psychology, University of Zürich
Supervisor: Prof. Klaus Oberauer, Dr. Philipp Musfeld, University of Zürich
- Disentangled the effect of meaningfulness on binding and item memory.
- Responsible for experimental design, programming, and data analysis.
Research Intern at CIMeC, University of Trento
Supervisor: Prof. Christoph Huber-Huber, CIMeC, Italy
- Contributed to the #EEGManyLabs replication of Mathewson et al. (2009) on alpha phase and visual perception by conducting EEG sessions.
- Analysed signal data from epilepsy patients using MNE-Python, focusing on hippocampal EEG and eye movements.
Film Researcher Intern at LOOKSfilm
Supervisor: Lucio Mollica
- Contributed to a co-production of LOOKSfilm with ZDF, ARTE, and PBS America, producing a 4-episode documentary series about the Vietnam War featuring rare and unpublished footage.
- Supported the director in scriptwriting, ensuring historical accuracy, and reviewing documentary footage.
- Managed communication with interviewees and collaborators.
- The project was selected and awarded at the 2023 Sunny Side of the Doc Pitch Sessions.
International Tour Guide at Withlocals / EXO Travel
- Guided German- and English-speaking tourists through southern Vietnam (from Saigon to the Mekong Delta).
- Designed and adapted tours for small, private, and family groups, focusing on authentic cultural experiences such as local markets, traditional workshops, and village life, while avoiding overcrowded tourist areas.
- Enhanced cross-cultural understanding and ensure a personalised experience for each group.
Manuscript
Internship: Disentangling the Effects of Meaningfulness on Item- and Binding Memory (In preparation)
Supervisor: Prof. Klaus Oberauer, Dr. Philipp Musfeld, University of Zürich
Investigated how semantic meaning influences visual working memory by replicating prior experiments and applying a Bayesian hierarchical framework. The findings showed that meaningful stimuli enhance both item memory and binding memory, thus supporting the Binding Hypothesis.
Academic Projects
Neuroscience
Report: Assessment of Two Unknown Compounds in Depression-like and Anxiety Behaviour in Wild-Type SWISS MiceTested two novel compounds for antidepressant and anxiolytic effects in a murine model using behavioural paradigms (OFT, EPM, TST). Results suggested potential antidepressant properties for one compound, though further research is needed to confirm efficacy.
Read report (PDF)
Murine Behavioural Experiments ANOVA JASP
Report: Learning Behaviour in Bumblebees: An Analysis with a Control Group
Analysed learning behaviour of bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) in a Y-maze using trajectory data from 187 trials. Results showed improved navigation speed and preference for reinforced cues over successive trials, establishing a baseline for stressor studies.
Read report (PDF)
Animal Behavioural Data Analysis R language
Coding: Neurodata Analysis of Hippocampal Recordings - Preprocessing and Visualisation in Python
Supervisor: Dr. Christoph Huber-Huber, CIMeC
Developing Python script to extract, preprocess, and visualise hippocampal LFP data from NWB files. Implemented filtering, event annotation, and channel selection to prepare data for time-locked analyses.
Python MNE-Python LFP Signal Processing
Linguistics
Les Gros Mots en français : quand la linguistique de corpus rencontre la sociolinguistique (English title: Swearing in French: when corpus linguistics meets sociolinguistics)Analysed Quebec French swear word usage in the corpus of spoken Quebec French - CFPQ. Examined frequency, morphology, and euphemistic forms. Found that men swear more frequently overall, but women use swear words as often as men in same-sex conversations; women and older speakers favour euphemisms, and swearing peaks in speakers’ twenties.
Read thesis (PDF)
AntConc Corpus Analysis Sociolinguistics
Computational Linguistic Analysis of Authentic and Deceptive Online Reviews
Conducted a computational linguistics study comparing 300 fake and 300 real hotel reviews to identify linguistic markers of deception. Found differences in punctuation frequency, part-of-speech distributions (nouns, verbs), and distinctive n-gram patterns.
Python Computational Linguistics
Corpus-Based Sociolinguistic Analysis of the Swearword “Fuck” in Spoken British English
Analysed over 700 occurrences of the word 'fuck' and its variants in the BNC2014 corpus, showing that men use the word nearly twice as often as women, with the highest frequency among students and speakers aged 20–30. Frequent idiomatic patterns (e.g. 'fucking hell', 'what the fuck', 'fuck off') and auxiliary/emphatic uses were identified as the most common pragmatic functions.
Read report (PDF)
BNClab
Grammatical Functions of the Non-auxiliary *Can* in Singapore English Texting
Analysed 1,121 tokens of can from a Singaporean SMS corpus to investigate non-standard grammatical functions beyond auxiliary use. Found five distinct non-auxiliary roles (affirmative response, tag question, verb, discourse marker, serial verb), showing systematic substrate influence and identity-marking in Colloquial Singapore English.
Read report (PDF)
Corpus Linguistics Pragmatics
The Combination of Gesture and Speech during Parent-Child Interaction: A Longitudinal Case Study
Analysed CHILDES video corpus of a monolingual British child (12–24 months) to examine gesture-speech use in natural parent-child interaction. Found that children gradually shift from imitating parental gestures to using them strategically for communication, with pointing strongly linked to early speech.
Read report (PDF)
Corpus Analysis
Essays
Essay: Could Neanderthals speak?Reviewed fossil anatomy, genetics, and archaeological records to evaluate Neanderthal speech and symbolic communication. Concluded that Neanderthals likely possessed some spoken language and symbolic behaviour, though not identical to modern humans.
Read essay (PDF)
Essay: La modernité et Baudelaire (En: Modernity and Baudelaire)
Reviewed the notion of modernity through Les fleurs du Mal through blending classical verse with a new aesthetic concepts in which beauty can arise from ugliness.
Read essay (PDF)
Essay: Jaccottet et l’influence du haïku (En: Jaccottet and the influence of Haiku)
Discussed how the delicate Japanese art of haiku influenced Philippe Jaccottet’s poetry, analysed how this inspiration appears even through the quiet harmony of his own style. A deep exploration of simplicity, light, and poetic clarity.
Read essay (PDF)
Skills
- Programming:
- Intermediate: Python,
- Basic: MATLAB, R, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Git
- Experiments: LabJS, PsychoPy
- Statistics: Bayesian modelling
- Linguistics Tools: Praat, AntConc, NLTK
- Software:
- Intermediate: Microsoft Office Suite, Notion, VSCode, PyCharm
- Basic: GitHub, RStudio, Figma
Soft Skills
Critical thinking, problem solving, analytical skills, adaptability, flexibility, teamwork
Languages
- Vietnamese - native
- English - C1 level
- German - C1 level
- French - C1 level
- Luxembourgish - B1 level
- Italian - A1 level
Interests
- Chess + learning languages for daily memory “gym”.
- Weekdays: neuroscience; weekends: mycology (🍄🟫).
- Personal assistant to two mischievous cats, Lord Réglisse and Lord Chopin, and any cats I’ve met on the street.