An alumnus of the Institut Pasteur, Stéphane Charpier is Professor of Neuroscience at Sorbonne University and heads an Inserm research team at Paris Brain Institute. For the past 30 years, his research has focused on the mechanisms of brain plasticity and epilepsy, particularly those affecting conscious processes in children. More recently, he has undertaken a study of the cerebral electrical phenomena associated with the deepest comas and those that precede death. In particular, he has elucidated the origin of the "death wave" and discovered the "resuscitation wave", which heralds the return of brain function after cardiorespiratory arrest. He is the originator of a new model describing the transition from the living to the dead state, and is the author of "La science de la résurrection" (Flammarion).
Credit: Astrid di Crollalanza
