1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain stuff. From how stuff works, Hey, brain stuff, 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:10,559 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogel bomb Here, it might seem like fetuses are 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: up to all that much other than growing in the cozy, 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: warm environment that is their mother's womb. And I mean 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: growing from a bundle of cells into an independently living, 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: breathing human being is a big enough job. However, research 7 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: published in the Journal of Current Biology shows that third 8 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: trimester fetuses have vision capabilities much more advanced than previously thought, 9 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: and further, they can choose what they want to look at. 10 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: Researchers from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom were keen 11 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: on expanding the understanding of fetal site capabilities. We spoke 12 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: via email with Vincent Read, the lead researcher and a 13 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: professor of psychology. He said, we've been able to explore 14 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: the use of all the fetal senses except for vision 15 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: up until now. There's a lot that we know about 16 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: newborn babies and their vision, but almost nothing with fetuses. 17 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: Just before they're born. The newborn is very good at 18 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: processing faces and prefers to look it faces over any 19 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: other shape. So it was logical to explore the development 20 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: of this preference before birth. The researchers examined a total 21 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: of thirty nine fetuses. There would have been more, but 22 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: some of the babies were in deep sleep because they 23 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: apparently missed the memo about participating in a research study, 24 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:19,399 Speaker 1: while other tests experienced poor image quality. The fetuses ranged 25 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: in gestational age from two hundred and thirty one to 26 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty two days that's about thirty three 27 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: to thirty six weeks. Site is the final sense to 28 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: develop inside the womb, with eyes staying closed until around 29 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: just stational week twenty eight. This is because fetal retinas 30 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: aren't developed until that point. Oh and all of the 31 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: babies were singletons. No twins or multiple pregnancies were studied. 32 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: Because the safety and comfort of the fetal participants and 33 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: their mothers was of utmost importance, the researchers designed noninvasive 34 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: attempts to assess the baby's visual capabilities. To do so, 35 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: the scientists shown lights through the maternal tissue. Read explained 36 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: the light consisted of three dots. When these are arranged 37 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: to represent two the eyes and one for the mouth. 38 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: Newborn babies prefer to look at them more than anything else, 39 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: so we didn't show fetuses of face, but an image 40 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: that was face like. The researchers used for the ultrasound 41 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: to measure if and how much the fetuses turned their 42 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: heads in response to the stimuli. They also showed the 43 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: same three dot pattern, but inverted so it didn't resemble 44 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: a face in structure to the fetuses. As it turns out, 45 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,519 Speaker 1: non facelike dots weren't as appealing. Read noted that newborns 46 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: don't find these configurations very interesting either. Although subtle attraction 47 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: to the face like configuration of three dots makes a 48 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: big difference in what we understand about developing site, Reid said, 49 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: it means we have this preference even before we're born. 50 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:44,839 Speaker 1: It's either due to being innate or due to experiences 51 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: prior to birth. Another major finding of this research is 52 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: that it moves up the human visual timeline. Reid said, 53 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: we now know that the fetus actively engages with visual 54 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: information in the prenatal environment. The head movement was a 55 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: deliberate movement to track the stimuli that we presented. This 56 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,079 Speaker 1: means that we can now look at many other aspects 57 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: of fetal vision. The study has laid the groundwork for 58 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,919 Speaker 1: future delving into fetal vision because as it stands right now, 59 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: little is known about how much fetuses can see. Red said, 60 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: a week old infant has very poor focal vision. It's 61 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: all blurred. The same will be true for fetus a 62 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: few weeks before birth. We know that premature infants can 63 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: see shapes, lights, and details, but that's once they are born, 64 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: and it could be that the prenatal environment is different. 65 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: We need to find that out. Reed's group plans to 66 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: investigate whether fetuses can discriminate between quantities or numbers, which 67 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: he notes is something that newborns can do. He said, 68 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: if the fetus can do this too, this tells us 69 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: a lot about fetal cognitive abilities. We're also keen to 70 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: look at how the fetus sees motion. Babies prefer to 71 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: look at animate or biological motion. If the fetus has 72 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: this preference, this would suggest that experiences they have had 73 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: engaging with their own body may have given rise to 74 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: these preferences. Today's episode was written by Ali A. Hoyt 75 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clang for iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. 76 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other developing topics, 77 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: visit our home planet how stuff Works dot com and 78 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: for more podcasts. For my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 79 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,479 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 80 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: favorite shows.