Babies can recognise faces while still in the womb, scientists find

Looks like babies in the womb can see. And recognize faces and and ignore shapes. This may spur the pro/anti abortion debate.

Babies can recognize faces while still in the womb, new research suggests.

Incredible moving images of unborn infants before their birth, shows that they turn their heads towards shapes which resemble faces - with the position of eyes and nose picked out.

But when they see a random shape, they ignore it, scientists at Lancaster University have found.

The finding suggests that the instinct to recognise facial features develops before a baby has even see its first face.

It also shows that an unborn baby's senses are already well developed and parents should begin interacting with their child while it is still in the womb.

This seems like a very in depth experiment. And this is third trimester, I wonder if they plan to see when the baby starts to recognize shapes?

The researchers shone dots of light arranged to look either like the eyes and mouth of a human face through the uterus wall of 39 expectant mothers who were 34 weeks (8 months) pregnant.

Babies after birth are known to prefer looking at dots of light arranged in this shape.

The scientists used computer modelling to see how the light would change as it passes through the mother's skin and abdomen so they could produce the same arrangement of light.

So the baby had to move their head to see the face-like stimulus so this proved the baby was an active participant. Interesting.

“In our study they had to move their head to keep looking at the face-like stimulus when we moved it away from them. So they are active participants in finding information from the environment. What this means is that other ways of interacting with the fetus can be considered.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

No they can't, they're just a bundle of cells.

a reply to: seasonal

Link?

I find this very hard to believe, that they can "see" faces while in the womb, and with eyes closed.

Maybe they respond to voices, or perhaps they are more tuned to respond to the energy/aura emanating from people?

ive often wondered about babies and animals too

if you are swinging something around or making movements or have some crazy patterns o your shirt they might stare at that but for the most part when any creature looks at you, they look at your face

think about it

did they ask them or something?

a reply to: avgguy

Love your bought and sold propaganda

a reply to: Liquesence

OOOPsee-all fixed.

It's not really sight...they are reacting to your covfefe! believe me!

Wait what? I agree with Liquesense, I can believe "sense" but not "see".

a reply to: bluesjr

Seeing is one of the senses.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: bluesjr

Seeing is one of the scenes.

Pretty sure you mean senses, and true. But not what babies would use in the womb.

Cool info though!

If you leave it to those against abortion they will have the fetuses, dancing, talking and writing just right after conception.

What a joke.

Do they see them upside down? Because that's how they're oriented in the womb.
videos.sapo.pt...

a reply to: bluesjr

I would imagine it is like when we can see the sun light with our eyes close.

But that by no means explains how a baby can differentiate between shapes and faces.

it seems only logical that if a baby could see outside of the womb, we'd be able to see the baby inside the womb.. unless the baby's eyesight is more developed and able to see before birth than after birth...
so, sorry, I don't really believe it.
unborn babies do not lose their ability of xray vision at birth!

a reply to: Blue Shift

I think a baby can be sideways-up side down and anyway they move. Not a dr. though.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: bluesjr

I would imagine it is like when we can see the sun light with our eyes close.

But that by no means explains how a baby can differentiate between shapes and faces.

Perhaps. My thoughts are a bit more "out there" and esoteric, but I tend to think that way about a lot of things.

a reply to: marg6043

No, they will have babies seeing as early as the third trimester- Like the story says.

The next experiment may have them seeing in the 2nd trimester....

originally posted by: seasonal
Looks like babies in the womb can see. And recognize faces and and ignore shapes. This may spur the pro/anti abortion debate.

Know what else has been able to recognize faces? Every animal we've ever run this experiment on. And it doesn't stop us from killing them.

Why would a parasite be any different?

a reply to: dawnstar

Please read the story.