WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Can Babies See in the Womb?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbomb here with a plastic episode for you from

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<v Speaker 1>the vault. In this one, we look at the first

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<v Speaker 1>things that we humans may actually be able to look at.

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<v Speaker 1>Period A growing fetus doesn't even develop retinas until the

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<v Speaker 1>third trimester, and we can't ask them what they see

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<v Speaker 1>at that point, but researchers have studied how they respond

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<v Speaker 1>to visual cues during that home stretch before birth. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren voel Bomb here. It might seem like

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<v Speaker 1>fetuses aren't up to all that much other than growing

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<v Speaker 1>in the cozy, warm environment that is their mother's womb,

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<v Speaker 1>and I mean growing from a bundle of cells into

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<v Speaker 1>an independently living, breathing human being is a big enough job. However,

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<v Speaker 1>research published in the Journal of Current Biology shows that

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<v Speaker 1>third trimester fetuses have vision capabilities much more advanced than

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<v Speaker 1>previously thought, and further, they can choose what they want

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<v Speaker 1>to look at. Researchers from Lancaster University in the United

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<v Speaker 1>Kingdom were keen on expanding the understanding of fetal site capabilities.

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<v Speaker 1>We spoke via email with Vincent Reid, the lead researcher

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<v Speaker 1>and a professor of psychology. He said, we've been able

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<v Speaker 1>to explore the use of all the fetal senses except

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<v Speaker 1>for vision, up until now. There's a lot that we

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<v Speaker 1>know about newborn babies and their vision, but almost nothing

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<v Speaker 1>with fetuses just before they're born. The newborn is very

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<v Speaker 1>good at processing faces and prefers to look at faces

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<v Speaker 1>over any other shape, so it was logical to explore

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<v Speaker 1>the development of this preference before birth. The researchers examined

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<v Speaker 1>a total of thirty nine fetuses. There would have been more,

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<v Speaker 1>but some of the babies were in deep sleep because

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<v Speaker 1>they apparently missed the memo about participating in a research study,

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<v Speaker 1>while other tests experienced poor image quality. The fetuses ranged

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<v Speaker 1>in gestational age from two hundred and thirty one to

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred and fifty two days that's about thirty three

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<v Speaker 1>to thirty six weeks. Site is the final sense to

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<v Speaker 1>develop inside the womb, with eyes staying closed until around

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<v Speaker 1>gestational week twenty eight. This is because fetal retinas aren't

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<v Speaker 1>developed until that point. Oh and all of the babies

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<v Speaker 1>were singletons. No twins or multiple pregnancies were studied because

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<v Speaker 1>the safety and comfort of the fetal participants and their

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<v Speaker 1>mothers was of utmost importance. The researchers designed non invasive

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<v Speaker 1>attempts to assess the baby's visual capabilities. To do so,

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<v Speaker 1>the scientists shone lights through the maternal tissue. Reid explained

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<v Speaker 1>the light consisted of three dots. When these are arranged

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<v Speaker 1>to represent two for the eyes and one for the mouth,

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<v Speaker 1>newborn babies prefer to look at them more than anything else,

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<v Speaker 1>so we didn't show fetuses of face, but an image

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<v Speaker 1>that was face like. The researchers used forty ultrasound to

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<v Speaker 1>measure if and how much the fetuses turned their heads

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<v Speaker 1>in response to the stimuli. They also showed the same

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<v Speaker 1>three dot pattern, but inverted, so it didn't resemble a

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<v Speaker 1>face in structure to the fetuses. As it turns out,

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<v Speaker 1>non face like dots weren't as appealing. Reid noted that

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<v Speaker 1>newborns don't find these configurations very interesting either. Although subtle

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<v Speaker 1>attraction to the facelike configuration of three dots makes a

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<v Speaker 1>big difference in what we understand about developing site, Reed said,

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<v Speaker 1>it means we have this preference even before we're born.

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<v Speaker 1>It's either due to being innate or due to experiences

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<v Speaker 1>prior to birth. Another major finding of this research is

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<v Speaker 1>that it moves up the human visual timeline. Reed said,

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<v Speaker 1>we now know that the fetus actively engages with visual

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<v Speaker 1>information in the prenatal environment. The head movement was a

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<v Speaker 1>deliberate movement to track the stimuli that we presented. This

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<v Speaker 1>means that we can now look at many other aspects

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<v Speaker 1>of fetal vision. The study has laid the groundwork for

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<v Speaker 1>future delving into fetal vision because as it stands right now,

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<v Speaker 1>little is known about how much fetuses can see. Reed said,

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<v Speaker 1>a week old infant has very poor focal vision. It's

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<v Speaker 1>all blurred. The same will be true for fetus a

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<v Speaker 1>few weeks before birth. We know that premature infants can

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<v Speaker 1>see shapes, lights, and details, but that's once they are born,

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<v Speaker 1>and it could be that the prenatal environment is different.

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<v Speaker 1>We need to find that out. Reid's group plans to

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<v Speaker 1>investigate whether fetuses can discriminate between quantities or numbers, which

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<v Speaker 1>he notes is something that newborns can do. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>if the fetus can do this too, this tells us

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<v Speaker 1>a lot about fetal cognitive abilities. We're also keen to

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<v Speaker 1>look at how the fetus sees motion, babies prefer to

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<v Speaker 1>look at animate or biological motion. If the fetus has

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<v Speaker 1>this preference, this would suggest that experiences they've had engaging

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<v Speaker 1>with their own body may have given rise to these preferences.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article what do Babies

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<v Speaker 1>See before Birth? On how stuffworks dot com written by

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<v Speaker 1>Leah Hoy. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with how stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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