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Learning and Memory in the Fetus

By Robyn Broyles, January 26, 2010 12:08



Cute unborn baby: 4D Ultrasound of fetusI have argued on this blog that newborns can learn and remember things we may not give them credit for. This belief is based on anecdotal observations and stories of newborn infants, as well as some developmental research. Since the newborn's brain is indistinguishable from that of the full-term fetus, it makes sense that the unborn baby is capable of learning and remembering.

Researchers recently proved that fetuses at least as young as 30 weeks (about 2 1/2 months before their due dates) can both learn and remember. The researchers placed a noisy device on the mothers' bellies, which the fetuses reacted to. When they tried the device ten minutes later, the babies ignored it, having learned that the noisy thing was harmless. More amazingly, even the youngest fetuses in the study remembered it four weeks later. More research is needed to find out when learning and memory in the fetus begin to emerge.

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Tags: pro-life, family, news stories, psychology, child development

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