Fabia Franco

Dr. Fabia Franco is an Associate Professor in Psychology at Middlesex University, specializing in developmental psychology, music therapy, and cross-modal communication. With over two decades of research, her work bridges music cognition, language acquisition, and social-emotional development across the lifespan.

• Key research themes include infant communication through pointing, musical predictors of language development, and therapeutic applications of music for cognitive disorders.
• Her interdisciplinary collaborations span neuroscience, music therapy, and autism studies.

Recent publications (2021-2024) focus on neonatal intensive care soundscapes, music-based cognitive interventions for aging populations, and cross-cultural studies of infant-directed communication in hunter-gatherer societies. She also develops assessment tools like the Music@Home questionnaire to quantify early musical environments.