NZ Herald 30 August 2013
Parents-to-be who talk and sing to their unborn baby might be giving them a head start when it comes to developing their child’s language skills.
Finnish scientists said babies still in their mothers’ wombs develop a memory of frequently-heard words.
Minna Huotilainen said a baby is not a blank slate when it enters the world and has already learned how his or her family members speak before being born.
She believes the research shows how well a baby’s brain adapts to sounds at a very early stage in its life.
Professor Huotilainen, of the University of Helsinki, said: “It is a sign of very early language learning, or adaptation to the sounds they heard.”
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