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The first memories you ever made were made when you were just a preborn baby in your mother’s womb. At least that’s what researchers from a variety of studies are concluding. At what point they are first capable of making memories is still up for debate, but with each study, the proof was found that these little humans are capable of creating memories.
A 2009 study published by Child Development looked at short-term memory in preborn children ages 30-38 weeks gestation. Nearly 100 pregnant women participated in the study, which tested how their preborn children responded to specific vibroacoustic stimulation – a low sound that makes a vibration.
The reactions were observed by performing an ultrasound. Researchers found that the first time the fetuses received the stimulation, they were startled. However, after repeated exposure to the stimulus – about 13 times, each thirty seconds apart – the fetuses stopped reacting.
This showed that they got used to the sound. Researchers call this habituation, which is something we all do. For example, we get used to the sounds around us such as the hum of a heater or air conditioner to the point that we don’t even notice it anymore.
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“Habituation is a form of learning and a form of memory,” explained Dr. Jan Nijhuis, a co-author of the study and an obstetrician.” He and his colleagues found that 30-week-old fetuses had a memory of 10 minutes and with each round of stimulation they were able to become habituated to the sound faster. They also discovered that at 34 weeks, preborn children were able to “store information and retrieve it four weeks later.”
“So that shows that there is a sort of remembrance of 4 weeks,” he said.
A separate study by researchers at the University of Helsinki asked a group of pregnant women to play a track of the nonsense word “tatata” to their preborn child every so often. Another group of pregnant women acted as the control group and did not play the track at all.
READ: Preborn babies sense not just pain, but light and temperature
“Habituation is a form of learning and a form of memory,” explained Dr. Jan Nijhuis, a co-author of the study and an obstetrician.” He and his colleagues found that 30-week-old fetuses had a memory of 10 minutes and with each round of stimulation they were able to become habituated to the sound faster. They also discovered that at 34 weeks, preborn children were able to “store information and retrieve it four weeks later.”
“So that shows that there is a sort of remembrance of 4 weeks,” he said.
A separate study by researchers at the University of Helsinki asked a group of pregnant women to play a track of the nonsense word “tatata” to their preborn child every so often. Another group of pregnant women acted as the control group and did not play the track at all.
After the babies were born, the researchers watched their brain activity while playing the track of “tatata” and found that those who had heard the sound while in the womb registered brain activity when they heard it after birth, while those who were not exposed to the sound in the womb did not register brain activity when they heard it after birth. Researchers concluded that a fetus’s memories last beyond birth.
