Fetuses Have Memories, Study Says

Aol/Live Science ^ | Monday July 20,2009 | Rachael Rettner ,

[fishhound]

(July 20) - You probably recall little of your days in the womb, but a new study suggests that short-term memory may be present in fetuses at 30 weeks of age. Until a few decades ago, "people would say that the human fetus is a sort of black box," said Dr. Jan Nijhuis, a co-author of the study and an obstetrician at Maastricht University Medical Center in The Netherlands. Studies over the years have started to reveal more about the neurological development of humans before they are born, but researchers are still trying to figure out when memory begins and how long it can last. The new study tested how fetuses in nearly 100 pregnant women responded to a specific stimulus, in this case, a "vibroacoustic stimulation," which is a very low sound that makes a vibration. The researchers observed the reaction using an ultrasound. When the fetus first receives the stimulation, it is startled. But after repeated trials of the same stimulation, 30 seconds apart, the fetus gets used to the sound and doesn't react.

[fishhound]

Ping

[fishhound]

Ping

[Star Traveler]

Well, I have heard of parents talking to babies in the womb and that the babies recognize their parents’ voices afterwards... :-)

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Nonsense! A fetus is just extraneous tissue, to be removed at the mother’s will, like a cyst. The folks at Planned Parenthood said so, and all the liberals agree.

[se_ohio_young_conservative]

This is very intresting. and I am wondering if there is a spiritual component to this too.

For some reason from the time I was very very little, I was always against alcohol. Even now, I will drink a few beers every now and then with some friends. but the idea of hard drinks or going to a bar makes me sick.

My mom was a alcoholic. I know for a fact she drank a lot when she was pregnant with me. I had ADD and a lot of problems in school. and mood issues. but my IQ is normal and thank God and I am a functional adult, although the simple things are not always simple for me. It could have been much worse. a lot of people are not functional for that reason. and have deeper issues

but I really have thought before. that my mothers drinking. prenatally and when I was young. had a spiritual and mental effect on me that I hated alcohol. I avoid large gatherings and drinking parties to this day.

This may seem far fetched. but I have thought about it many many times.

[redangus]

Another nail in the abortion debate coffin. Undifferentiated fetal tissue does not have a memory.

[CondorFlight]

Of course fetuses hear the voices of their parents and those outside.

(And John the Baptist leapt in his mother’s womb on hearing the voice of Mary. I.E. John the Baptist was a person,
and he recognized the voice of another person.)

[metmom]

Pro-life ping

[metmom]

When my youngest was born, one of the nurses was in the room and holding my daughter so that she couldn’t see me, and was talking to her.

The nurse then said something to me and I replied. My daughter, only 2-3 days old at that time, whipped her head around and stared right at me.

We were both very surprised but it was clear that my daughter recognized my voice.

[MountainFlower]

Thanks for the info!! I know the baby will respond to parents voices...nice to know other people are getting it!

[Tellurian]

I have a memory of a repeat dream - a “sensation dream” - that I believe is a recall of the descent through the birth canal. I remember having the “sensation dream” a few dozen times when I was 4 to 6 years old. The dream was primarily an imagined sensation of undulating pressure along the full length of my body. Having the “sensation dream” was accompanied by an attitude of awe and the thrill of concern, but not fear. That made the dream itself a thrill to have. They were strange because there was nothing visual about them. As I recall, I would only have them, or only remember when I had them, as I tended to fall asleep. I would apparently have a conscious thought about the dream and commit the dream experience to current memory. It wasn’t until decades later that I came to believe those old “sensation dreams” were derived from the birthing experience.

So, I believe the human brain, incredibly malleable as it is, is capable of attention to it’s surroundings, and capable of storing information, albeit probably not with much organization, very early on.

[TChad]

So a fetus is a non-person that has memories just like a real person. Also, it moves like a real person, it has all the genes of a real person, it grows like a real person, it looks like a real person, and so on. But it's not really a real person until the Personhood Fairy taps it with the Magic Personhood Wand as it leaves the womb.

How is it possible to believe that?

[combat_boots]

You believe it if...

You don’t have children
Don’t want children
Are greedy
Are lazy
Are immoral
Are selfish
Don’t take responsibility
Believe that killing babies is your ‘choice’
Don’t want someone else to raise your ‘fetus’

[Zoe Brain]

At 25 weeks post-conception, we can see the differences between male and female brains in humans. How do we know this? From autopsies of those stillborn.

I don’t consider the removal of necrotic foetal tissue from the womb to be abortion of any kind.

I consider abortion in the first trimester a tragedy, but not murder. It certainly shouldn’t be considered contraception.

I consider abortion in the third trimester to be infanticide. That may be necessary, just as separating a conjoined twin so at least one will live rather than both die is necessary homicide, but it’s not something to be considered lightly. You’re taking a human life. The gain had better be commensurate with that.

The problem arises during the second trimester. I have no good answer there. Late second trimester abortion should be considered infanticide, early second trimester not, but how to define “early” and “late”?

My opinions are based solely on neurological development. An otherwise healthy human - foetus or adult - with no functional cerebral cortex I do not consider should be given the same consideration as a human capable of feeling and/or thought. But not treated as a “thing” either.

But opinions are even more common than anal sphincters - because everyone has an opinion, but some people have had colostomies.

[Robe]

I remember it being very humid in there...

[TNdandelion]

I’m not surprised. My oldest child had newborn jaundice and had to give a blood sample every day to check her bili levels. At first, she didn’t cry until the needle actually pricked her foot. But by the 3rd test...she started crying when they put the warming pad on her foot BEFORE they pricked it. She knew what was coming.