It is well known that small children are more interested in faces than other objects.

Now the journal Current Biology reported that the child is still in the womb of the mother looking for forms resembling a baby's face.

Projecting light through the wall of the uterus, scientists found that the fruit on a 34-week period actively turns the head in search of a "company".

"The results demonstrate that visual perception and cognition in infants can be investigated before they are born. The fetus can distinguish between different forms, preferring to track the faces. This assumption was put forward for several decades, but until now the fetal study has not been undertaken, "says Vincent Reid from the University of Lancaster (UK).

According to Dr. Reid, in the past technical barriers prevented the study of vision and behavior of the fetus in the uterus. But scientists have managed to solve problems due to high-resolution 4D-ultrasound and light that penetrates through the uterus and is perceived by the child.

The researchers conducted experiments with 39 children, who were illuminated by rays forming the contours of the face.

The images were projected in different directions and moved along the abdomen of the mother. The behavior of the fetus in the womb left no doubt: even before birth, we long for a company like ourselves. Babies looking for images resembling faces are more active than inverted paintings.

"You will say that the fetus demonstrates a natural response to new sensations. If this were so, we would observe the same reaction to all images. But the inverted, dissimilar to the face of the picture is of much less interest to the baby, "the authors of the study.

It turns out that face recognition begins in the period of intrauterine development. The inference suggests: letting the kid play with the flashlight before birth, we can stimulate, and even train him!.

But forced to disappoint parents.

Dr. Reid warned that the medicine poorly understands the possibilities of intrauterine perception and education of children. If newborns can respond to numbers and numbers of items, it is not known whether a 34-week-old fetus. It is difficult to say how the impact of the same flashlight affects the development.

Wait for the birth - then play enough!.

medbe. en.

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