August 19, 1999. Copyright, 1999, Graphic News. All rights reserved

MUSIC IN THE WOMB

LONDON, August 19, Graphic News - Brain activity in response to music can now be measured in unborn babies, according to research published in this weekÕs Lancet.

A team led by Dr Jonathan Hykin at the University of Nottingham used a technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging to monitor brain activity in unborn babies.

They placed piping connected to a loudspeaker near the mother-to-beÕs abdomen and played a nursery rhyme for about 15 seconds. Two of three babies examined showed a striking increase in brain activity in the temporal lobe at the front of the brain.

In another study Professor Peter Hepper of Queens University, Belfast, says it is possible that exposure to music in the womb could shape a personÕs later musical tastes and abilities. He has found evidence that a foetus can ÔlearnÕ some pieces of music very quickly and will show a preference for them after birth.

As early as 20 weeks into pregnancy a foetus responds to sound, and as it develops, the range of frequencies that it can hear widens and its hearing becomes more sensitive. While higher frequencies are lost when music travels through the motherÕs womb Ð so that music sounds more ÔbassyÕ to a foetus Ð rhythm is not lost.

Hepper judged foetal preference by watching the baby on an ultrasound scan and comparing the number of movements it made during periods when music was playing and when it was not. His findings suggest that a foetus can learn rhythmic music far quicker than non-rhythmic music. 

ÒI think that there is now more and more evidence accumulating to indicate that the foetus is not as immune to environmental influences as was previously thought,Ó he says.
/ENDS
Sources: The Lancet