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).