Research Interests
Monica Fabiani's research interests are in the cognitive neuroscience of human memory and aging, as well as in the development of tools for the non-invasive mapping of human brain function. As is typical of the cognitive neuroscience approach, her research involves the integration of data from different domains, including behavioral responses, neuropsychological tests, and brain anatomy and function (event-related brain potentials, or ERPs; structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI; and optical imaging, including near infrared spectroscopy, or NIRS, a new techniques developed with Gabriele Gratton, the event-related optical signals, or EROS, and more recently measures of arterial elasticity).
Prof. Fabiani's research includes several interconnected lines: (1) Cerebrovascular contributions to structural, functional, and cognitive aging, using a newly developed optical method (pulse-DOT, the cerebral arterial pulse measured with diffuse optical tomography) to assess cerebrovascular status (funded by NIA); (2) Neurophysiological and structural, bases of cognitive control, attention and working memory in normal aging, with a focus on individual differences (funded by NIA); and (3) development of new non-invasive optical brain imaging methods and their integration with currently existing methods (EEG/ERPs, functional and structural MRI, ASL, and TMS; funded by MindPortal).
Education
Biological Psychology / Cognitive Neuroscience, Ph.D., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor, Psychology
Professor, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
External Links
Recent Publications
Moore, M., Iordan, A. D., Katsumi, Y., Fabiani, M., Gratton, G., & Dolcos, F. (2025). Trimodal brain imaging: A novel approach for simultaneous investigation of human brain function. Biological Psychology, 194, Article 108967. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2024.108967
Bowie, D. C., Low, K. A., Rubenstein, S. L., Islam, S. S., Zimmerman, B., Camacho, P. B., Sutton, B. P., Gratton, G., & Fabiani, M. (2024). Neurovascular mechanisms of cognitive aging: Sex-related differences in the average progression of arteriosclerosis, white matter atrophy, and cognitive decline. Neurobiology of Disease, 201, Article 106653. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2024.106653
Chiou, N., Günal, M., Koyejo, S., Perpetuini, D., Chiarelli, A. M., Low, K. A., Fabiani, M., & Gratton, G. (2024). Single-Trial Detection and Classification of Event-Related Optical Signals for a Brain–Computer Interface Application. Bioengineering, 11(8), Article 781. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering11080781
Feter, N., Ligeza, T. S., Bashir, N., Shanmugam, R. J., Herrera, B. M., Aldabbagh, T., Usman, A. F., Yonezawa, A., McCarthy, S., Herrera, D., Vargas, D., Mir, E. M., Syed, T., Desai, S., Shi, H., Kim, W., Puhar, N., Gowda, K., Nowak, O., ... Pindus, D. M. (Accepted/In press). Effects of reducing sedentary behaviour by increasing physical activity, on cognitive function, brain function and structure across the lifespan: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, Article bjsports-2024-108444. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2024-108444
Knight, R. S., Chen, T., Center, E. G., Gratton, G., Fabiani, M., Savazzi, S., Mazzi, C., & Beck, D. M. (2024). Bypassing input to V1 in visual awareness: A TMS-EROS investigation. Neuropsychologia, 198, Article 108864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108864