Babies show memory of tunes heard in womb

Many mothers play music for their babies while pregnant in the belief that it might bring benefits. Until now it has been unclear what impact sound has on a foetus.

The new study involved women in a “learning group” playing a CD of the nursery rhyme Twinkle Twinkle Little Star five times a week during the last three months of their pregnancies.

Soon after they had given birth, researchers measured the brain activity of their babies while playing the melody again.

Similar tests were carried out four months later.

Both after birth and at four months, infants from the learning group showed much greater brain activity in response to the music than a control group of babies who had not heard it before.

The difference between the two groups was only apparent when the original music was played, rather than a version with changed notes.

Writing in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE, Dr Eino Partanen, of the University of Helsinki in Finland, said: “Even though we’ve previously shown that foetuses could learn minor details of speech, we did not know how long they could retain the information.

“These results show that babies are capable of learning at a very young age, and that the effects of the learning remain apparent in the brain for a long time.”

The scientists speculate that unpleasant or noisy sounds heard in the womb might have adverse effects.