Wow!

We're a few days away from the 20-week (halfway) point! Wahoo!

I've been playing music for the baby a lot, not because I think it will make him/her some sort of super-genius, but because I figure it can't do any harm. So I was happy to find this little tidbit in my travels today. Mostly I just crank up whatever I'm listening to the in the car on the way to work... this week, we've listened to Simon and Garfunkel's Concert in Central Park, ElmoPalooza, a nice mix of some classical stuff, Charlotte Church, and various Disney cd's. ;)

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In a fascinating new discovery, scientists at England's Keele and Bath Universities have demonstrated that unborn babies begin to hear and remember as early as 20 weeks -- at least four weeks earlier than previously thought.

According to The London Telegraph, researchers found that the fetus at 20 weeks had memory and perceptive capacity in the lower part of the brain, the thalamus. Scientists had believed that, because the upper part of the brain -- the cortex -- did not develop until weeks later, the unborn child could not hear.

In the study, researchers played music for unborn children at 20 weeks. Then they tested the response of babies two to three weeks after birth, and observed that their responses indicated they remembered the musical selections, and were soothed by replay.