As if overturning the common conception of infancy weren't enough, scientists are creating a startling new picture of intelligent life in the womb. Among the revelations:
o By nine weeks, a developing fetus can hiccup and react to loud noises. By the end of the second trimester it can hear.
o Just as adults do, the fetus experiences the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep of dreams.
o The fetus savors its mother's meals, first picking up the food tastes of a culture in the womb.
o Among other mental feats, the fetus can distinguish between the voice of Mom and that of a stranger, and respond to a familiar story read to it.
The roots of human behavior, researchers now know, begin to develop early--just weeks after conception, in fact.
Well before a woman typically knows she is pregnant, her embryo's brain has already begun to bulge.
By five weeks, the organ that looks like a lumpy inchworm has already embarked on the most spectacular feat of human development: the creation of the deeply creased and convoluted cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that will eventually allow the growing person to move, think, speak, plan, and create in a human way.
