Neural evidence of allophonic perception in children at risk for dyslexia

► MMNs were recorded for stimuli of the same and different phoneme categories. ► Both control and at-risk children showed MMNs for stimuli from different categories. ► Only at-risk children showed an MMN for stimuli from the same phoneme category. ► Sensitivity to irrelevant contrasts suggests a possible hereditary cause of dyslexia. ► This hampers the development of stable phonological representations.