Dr Stephan Eric Dufau
Affiliate Senior Research Fellow
Mater Research Institute
Affiliate Senior Research Fellow of Queensland Brain Institute
Queensland Brain Institute
Researcher biography
S. Dufau is a Senior Research Fellow at Mater Research in Brisbane, Australia, where he conducts clinical research, with academic affiliations at The University of Queensland and the Queensland Brain Institute. He works at the intersection of epilepsy and cognitive science within the Mater Epilepsy Unit Research Group. With training in biophysics and biostatistics, his research focuses on understanding relationships between brain function and behaviour through the analysis and modelling of biological and behavioural data. A central aim of this work is to contribute to better patient care.
Book Chapter
Grainger, Jonathan and Dufau, Stéphane (2012). The front end of visual word recognition. Visual Word Recognition Volume 1: Models and Methods, Orthography, and Phonology. (pp. 159-184) Taylor and Francis. doi: 10.4324/9780203107010
Journal Articles
Mahizhnan, Marai, Dufau, Stéphane, Phamnguyen, John, Kahrom, Arash, Craig, Donald and McGonigal, Aileen (2026). Semiology in spontaneous versus cortical stimulation‐induced seizures during SEEG: a within‐patient comparison study. Epilepsia Open, 11 (2) epi4.70221, 488-503. doi: 10.1002/epi4.70221
Massol, Stéphanie, Mirault, Jonathan, Dufau, Stéphane and Grainger, Jonathan (2025). Does predictability modulate the sentence superiority effect? Perhaps – but not as one might predict!. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 33 (1) 20, 1-20. doi: 10.3758/s13423-025-02818-y
Li, Chin-Jou, Hou, Jen-Cheng, Chou, Chien-Chen, Shih, Yen-Cheng, Dufau, Stephane, Lin, Po-Tso, McGonigal, Aileen and Yu, Hsiang-Yu (2024). Face swapping in seizure videos for patient deidentification. Epilepsy Research, 207 107453, 1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2024.107453
Dufau, Stéphane, Yeaton, Jeremy, Badier, Jean-Michel, Chen, Sophie, Holcomb, Phillip J. and Grainger, Jonathan (2024). Sentence superiority in the reading brain. Neuropsychologia, 198 108885, 1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108885
Beyersmann, Elisabeth, Grainger, Jonathan, Dufau, Stéphane, Fournet, Colas and Ziegler, Johannes C. (2024). The effect of constituent frequency and distractor type on learning novel complex words. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 39 (2), 251-264. doi: 10.1080/23273798.2023.2263590
Hou, Jen-Cheng, Li, Chin-Jou, Chou, Chien-Chen, Shih, Yen-Cheng, Fong, Si-Lei, Dufau, Stephane E., Lin, Po-Tso, Tsao, Yu, McGonigal, Aileen and Yu, Hsiang-Yu (2023). Artificial Intelligence-Based Face Transformation in Patient Seizure Videos for Privacy Protection. Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health, 1 (4), 619-628. doi: 10.1016/j.mcpdig.2023.10.004
McGonigal, Aileen, Becker, Christel, Fath, Julia, Hammam, Kahina, Baumstarck, Karine, Fernandes, Sara, Giusiano, Bernard, Dufau, Stéphane, Rheims, Sylvain, Maillard, Louis, Biraben, Arnaud, Benoliel, Jean-Jacques, Bernard, Christophe and Bartolomei, Fabrice (2023). BDNF as potential biomarker of epilepsy severity and psychiatric comorbidity: pitfalls in the clinical population. Epilepsy Research, 195 107200, 1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2023.107200
Brossette, Brice, Grainger, Jonathan, Lété, Bernard and Dufau, Stéphane (2022). On the relations between letter, word, and sentence-level processing during reading. Scientific Reports, 12 (1) 17735, 1-9. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-22587-1
Armando, Marjorie, Grainger, Jonathan and Dufau, Stephane (2022). Multi-LEX: a database of multi-word frequencies for French and English. Behavior Research Methods, 55 (8), 4315-4328. doi: 10.3758/s13428-022-02018-9
Javourey-Drevet, Ludivine, Dufau, Stéphane, François, Thomas, Gala, Núria, Ginestié, Jacques and Ziegler, Johannes C. (2022). Simplification of literary and scientific texts to improve reading fluency and comprehension in beginning readers of French. Applied Psycholinguistics, 43 (2) PII S014271642100062X, 485-512. doi: 10.1017/s014271642100062x
Scaltritti, Michele, Grainger, Jonathan and Dufau, Stéphane (2021). Letter and word identification in the fovea and parafovea. Attention, Perception and Psychophysics, 83 (5), 2071-2082. doi: 10.3758/s13414-021-02273-6
Huang, F., Armando, M., Dufau, S., Florea, O., Brouqui, P. and Boudjema, S. (2021). COVID-19 outbreak and healthcare worker behavioural change toward hand hygiene practices. Journal of Hospital Infection, 111, 27-34. doi: 10.1016/j.jhin.2021.03.004
Pegado, Felipe, Wen, Yun, Mirault, Jonathan, Dufau, Stéphane and Grainger, Jonathan (2021). An ERP investigation of transposed-word effects in same-different matching. Neuropsychologia, 153 107753, 107753. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107753
Mirault, Jonathan, Guerre-Genton, Agnès, Dufau, Stéphane and Grainger, Jonathan (2020). Using virtual reality to study reading: An eye-tracking investigation of transposed-word effects. Methods in Psychology, 3 100029, 1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.metip.2020.100029
Mirault, Jonathan, Yeaton, Jeremy, Broqua, Fanny, Dufau, Stéphane, Holcomb, Phillip J. and Grainger, Jonathan (2020). Parafoveal-on-foveal repetition effects in sentence reading: A co-registered eye-tracking and electroencephalogram study. Psychophysiology, 57 (8) e13553. doi: 10.1111/psyp.13553
Ferrand, Ludovic, Méot, Alain, Spinelli, Elsa, New, Boris, Pallier, Christophe, Bonin, Patrick, Dufau, Stéphane, Mathôt, Sebastiaan and Grainger, Jonathan (2018). MEGALEX: A megastudy of visual and auditory word recognition. Behavior Research Methods, 50 (3), 1285-1307. doi: 10.3758/s13428-017-0943-1
Scaltritti, Michele, Dufau, Stéphane and Grainger, Jonathan (2018). Stimulus orientation and the first-letter advantage. Acta Psychologica, 183, 37-42. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2017.12.009
Guillaume, Fabrice, Tinard, Sophie, Baier, Sophia and Dufau, Stéphane (2018). An ERP investigation of object-scene incongruity: The early meeting of knowledge and perception. Journal of Psychophysiology, 32 (1), 20-29. doi: 10.1027/0269-8803/a000181
Pinet, S., Zielinski, C., Mathôt, S., Dufau, S., Alario, F. X. and Longcamp, M. (2017). Erratum to: Measuring sequences of keystrokes with jsPsych: Reliability of response times and interkeystroke intervals (Behavior Research Methods, (2017), 49, 3, (1163-1176), 10.3758/s13428-016-0776-3). Behavior Research Methods, 49 (3), 1177-1178. doi: 10.3758/s13428-017-0865-y
Pinet, S., Zielinski, C., Mathôt, S., Dufau, S., Alario, F. X. and Longcamp, M. (2017). Measuring sequences of keystrokes with jsPsych: reliability of response times and interkeystroke intervals. Behavior Research Methods, 49 (3), 1163-1176. doi: 10.3758/s13428-016-0776-3
Grainger, Jonathan, Dufau, Stéphane and Ziegler, Johannes C. (2016). A vision of reading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20 (3), 171-179. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2015.12.008
Dufau, Stéphane, Grainger, Jonathan, Midgley, Katherine J and Holcomb, Phillip J (2015). A Thousand Words Are Worth a Picture: Snapshots of Printed-Word Processing in an Event-Related Potential Megastudy. Psychological Science, 26 (12), 1887-1897. doi: 10.1177/0956797615603934
Taillan, Julien, Dufau, Stéphane and Lemaire, Patrick (2015). How Do We Choose Among Strategies to Accomplish Cognitive Tasks? Evidence From Behavioral and Event-Related Potential Data in Arithmetic Problem Solving. Mind, Brain, and Education, 9 (4), 222-231. doi: 10.1111/mbe.12095
Hinault, Thomas, Dufau, Stéphane and Lemaire, Patrick (2014). Sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects during strategy execution: An event-related potential study in arithmetic. Brain and Cognition, 91, 123-130. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2014.09.001
Hannagan, Thomas, Ziegler, Johannes C., Dufau, Stéphane, Fagot, Joël and Grainger, Jonathan (2014). Deep learning of orthographic representations in baboons. PLoS ONE, 9 (1) e84843. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084843
Hinault, Thomas, Dufau, Stéphane and Lemaire, Patrick (2014). Strategy combination in human cognition: a behavioral and ERP study in arithmetic. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 22 (1), 190-199. doi: 10.3758/s13423-014-0656-8
Uittenhove, Kim, Poletti, Celine, Dufau, Stephane and Lemaire, Patrick (2013). The time course of strategy sequential difficulty effects: An ERP study in arithmetic. Experimental Brain Research, 227 (1), 1-8. doi: 10.1007/s00221-012-3397-9
Ziegler, Johannes C., Hannagan, Thomas, Dufau, Stéphane, Montant, Marie, Fagot, Joël and Grainger, Jonathan (2013). Transposed-Letter Effects Reveal Orthographic Processing in Baboons. Psychological Science, 24 (8), 1609-1611. doi: 10.1177/0956797612474322
Ziegler, Johannes C., Dufau, Stéphane, Montant, Marie, Hannagan, Thomas, Fagot, Joël and Grainger, Jonathan (2013). What Can We Learn From Humans About Orthographic Processing in Monkeys? A Reply to Frost and Keuleers (2013). Psychological Science, 24 (9), 1870-1871. doi: 10.1177/0956797613484768
Montant, Marie, Grainger, Jonathan, Dufau, Stéphane, Ziegler, Johannes C. and Fagot, Jöl (2012). Orthographic processing in baboons L'orthographe à la portée des babouins. Medecine/Sciences, 28 (10), 821-823. doi: 10.1051/medsci/20122810008
Grainger, Jonathan, Dufau, Stéphane, Montant, Marie, Ziegler, Johannes C. and Fagot, Joël (2012). Response to comment on "Orthographic processing in Baboons (Papio papio)". Science, 337 (6099), 1173-1173. doi: 10.1126/science.1224939
Dufau, Stéphane, Grainger, Jonathan and Ziegler, Johannes C. (2012). How to say "No" to a nonword: A leaky competing accumulator model of lexical decision. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 38 (4), 1117-1128. doi: 10.1037/a0026948
Madec, Sylvain, Rey, Arnaud, Dufau, Stéphane, Klein, Michael and Grainger, Jonathan (2012). The time course of visual letter perception. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 24 (7), 1645-1655. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00178
Grainger, Jonathan, Lopez, Danielle, Eddy, Marianna, Dufau, Stéphane and Holcomb, Phillip J. (2012). How word frequency modulates masked repetition priming: An ERP investigation. Psychophysiology, 49 (5), 604-616. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01337.x
Grainger, Jonathan, Lété, Bernard, Bertand, Daisy, Dufau, Stéphane and Ziegler, Johannes C. (2012). Evidence for multiple routes in learning to read. Cognition, 123 (2), 280-292. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2012.01.003
Grainger, Jonathan, Dufau, Stéphane, Montant, Marie, Ziegler, Johannes C. and Fagot, Joël (2012). Orthographic processing in baboons (Papio papio). Science, 336 (6078), 245-248. doi: 10.1126/science.1218152
Ktori, Maria, Grainger, Jonathan and Dufau, Stéphane (2012). Letter string processing and visual short-term memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65 (3), 465-473. doi: 10.1080/17470218.2011.611889
Grainger, Jonathan and Dufau, Stephane (2012). The front end of visual word recognition. Visual Word Recognition, Vol 1: Models and Methods, Orthography, and Phonology, 159-184.
Ktori, Maria, Grainger, Jonathan, Dufau, Stéphane and Holcomb, Phillip J. (2012). The "electrophysiological sandwich": A method for amplifying ERP priming effects. Psychophysiology, 49 (8), 1114-1124. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2012.01387.x
Dufau, Stephane, Dunabeitia, Jon Andoni, Moret-Tatay, Carmen, McGonigal, Aileen, Peeters, David, Alario, F. -Xavier, Balota, David A., Brysbaert, Marc, Carreiras, Manuel, Ferrand, Ludovic, Ktori, Maria, Perea, Manuel, Rastle, Kathy, Sasburg, Olivier, Yap, Melvin J., Ziegler, Johannes C. and Grainger, Jonathan (2011). Smart phone, smart science: how the use of smartphones can revolutionize research in cognitive science. PLoS One, 6 (9) e24974. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0024974
Riès, Stéphanie, Janssen, Niels, Dufau, Stéphane, Alario, F.-Xavier and Burle, Borís (2011). General-purpose monitoring during speech production. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23 (6), 1419-1436. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2010.21467
Dufau, Stéphane, Lété, Bernard, Touzet, Claude, Glotin, Hérve, Ziegler, Johannes C. and Grainger, Jonathan (2010). A developmental perspective on visual word recognition: New evidence and a self-organising model. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 22 (5), 669-694. doi: 10.1080/09541440903031230
Chevalier, Nicolas, Blaye, Agnès, Dufau, Stéphane and Lucenet, Joanna (2010). What Visual Information Do Children and Adults Consider While Switching Between Tasks? Eye-Tracking Investigation of Cognitive Flexibility Development. Developmental Psychology, 46 (4), 955-972. doi: 10.1037/a0019674
Ziegler, Johannes C., Pech-Georgel, Catherine, Dufau, Stéphane and Grainger, Jonathan (2010). Rapid processing of letters, digits and symbols: What purely visual-attentional deficit in developmental dyslexia?. Developmental Science, 13 (4). doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.00983.x
Dandurand, Frédéric, Grainger, Jonathan and Dufau, Stéphane (2010). Learning location-invariant orthographic representations for printed words. Connection Science, 22 (1), 25-42. doi: 10.1080/09540090903085768
Massol, Stéphanie, Grainger, Jonathan, Dufau, Stéphane and Holcomb, Phillip (2010). Masked Priming From Orthographic Neighbors: An ERP Investigation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 36 (1), 162-174. doi: 10.1037/a0017614
Glotin, H., Warnier, P., Dandurand, F., Dufau, S., Lété, B., Touzet, C., Ziegler, J. C. and Grainger, J. (2010). An Adaptive Resonance Theory account of the implicit learning of orthographic word forms. Journal of Physiology Paris, 104 (1-2), 19-26. doi: 10.1016/j.jphysparis.2009.11.003
Rey, Arnaud, Dufau, Stéphane, Massol, Stéphanie and Grainger, Jonathan (2009). Testing computational models of letter perception with item-level event-related potentials. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 26 (1), 7-22. doi: 10.1080/09541440802176300
Pattamadilok, Chotiga, Perre, Laetitia, Dufau, Stéphane and Ziegler, Johannes C. (2009). On-line orthographic influences on spoken language in a semantic task. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21 (1), 169-179. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21014
Grainger, Jonathan, Rey, Arnaud and Dufau, Stéphane (2008). Letter perception: from pixels to pandemonium. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12 (10), 381-387. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2008.06.006
Gandini, Delphine, Lemaire, Patrick and Dufau, Stéphane (2008). Older and younger adults' strategies in approximate quantification. Acta Psychologica, 129 (1), 175-189. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.05.009
Dufau, Stéphane, Grainger, Jonathan and Holcomb, Phillip J. (2008). An ERP investigation of location invariance in masked repetition priming. Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 8 (2), 222-228. doi: 10.3758/CABN.8.2.222
Dufau, Stéphane, Stevens, Michaël and Grainger, Jonathan (2008). Windows executable software for the progressive demasking task. Behavior Research Methods, 40 (1), 33-37. doi: 10.3758/BRM.40.1.33
Green, Heather J., Lemaire, Patrick and Dufau, Stéphane (2007). Eye movement correlates of younger and older adults' strategies for complex addition. Acta Psychologica, 125 (3), 257-278. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2006.08.001
Conference Papers
Javourey-Drevet, Ludivine, Dufau, Stéphane, Ziegler, Johannes C. and Gala, Núria (2022). HIBOU: an eBook to improve text comprehension and reading fluency for beginning readers of French. 2nd Workshop on Tools and Resources for REAding DIfficulties, READI 2022, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Paris, France: European Language Resources Association (ELRA).
Boros, M., Eger, E., Dufau, S., Chanceaux, M., Anton, J-L, Pech, C., Rozycka, J., Grainger, J., Ziegler, J. C., Cohen, L., Dehaene, S. and Szwed, M. (2014). Understanding learning to read through fMRI of rapid letter detection in skilled adult readers and dyslexic 10-year old children. 22nd Annual Meeting of the Israel-Society-for-Neuroscience (ISFN) / 2nd Bi National Italy-Israel Neuroscience Meeting, Eilat Israel, Dec 14-17, 2013. TOTOWA: HUMANA PRESS INC.
Ries, Stephanie, Janssen, Niels, Dufau, Stephane, Alario, F. Xavier and Burle, Boris (2009). CHARACTERIZATION OF ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC (EEG) COMPONENTS ELICITED BY OVERT SPEECH PRODUCTION IN THE PICTURE NAMING TASK: A LAPLACIAN ERP STUDY. 49th Annual Meeting of the Society-for-Psychophysiological-Research, Berlin Germany, Oct 21-24, 2009. MALDEN: WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC.