Unborned series - Memories and senses

Since my Unborned series shows interest in my slowly growing blog (well everything needs its time) I want to respect that and come back with the second “episode”.
The fetus has memory – correct and this is not just a phrase or a deduction but a fact, demonstrated with clinical experiments and observational studies. Can you contest that ? Hardly think so and I will develop why.

The womb is a living environment (a host) and the fetus is a temporary inhabitant. Continuity between this form of life and life after actual birth is much more fluid than we thought it was, even if the birth is a traumatic interruption (Sigmund Freud launches the first hypothesis about this subject).
We learn already about music connection, how fetus recognize music and sounds and reacts like it.
Dr. Anthony DeCasper made an experiment in 1980 on a lot of 16 pregnant women and read twice per day in the last 6 months of pregnancy “The cat in the hat”. Than after the babies were borned he attached a mechanism to their feeding bottle which made possible to the babies to choose between 2 audio cassettes with 2 different stories, one of them “The cat in the hat”. This indicated clearly that the babies were capable to choose the cassette which they heard already in their fetus universe.

You baby is a xenophobe ! Right, babies have a predilection to the mother language, so don’t think you will make them geniuses by teaching them from the start more than 1 language. After birth applies the same role. Until your baby is 1-2 years old try to use just 1 language in the house to not confuse the baby. Like everyone else, babies need some base to start with and language is one of them. It’s not uncommon that linguistic deficiencies like the baby starts to talk much more later than others was identified in homes where the parents where talking more languages at home. The baby was too confused to identify any dominant pattern so he/she just couldn’t start talking.

Memory starts to develop in the third trimester of the intrauterine life. Starting with month 6 appears the first memory schemes guided by recognisable patterns.

What should we know about memory ? That there are 2 types of memory, the body and the nervous system memory. Every moment of our lives and our fetus life is stored somewhere, in the body or in our nervous system. Yes, you heard that right, our body has a memory, and even a good one. The problem is that many types it’s unconscious memory when it’s not connected to certain areas of the brain to be “digested”. That’s why we can’t realize many things in a conscious mode. One of the most interesting part of our body which connects our memories to the brain are the tonsils.
I want to develop a bit because it’s a very interesting and useful information to know about.

Tonsils (Amygdale) Many people think tonsils are useless and they are so often removed that they definitely lost in our Consciousness their primordial role. I will develop this subjects for 2 reasons:

1) helps you understand better and makes you believe how the memory is a real thing in your unburned life;
2) it’s not such a known subject compared to its significance.

Physiology and Immunology of tonsils it’s better known so I prefer to use outside good sources to give you some info:

“Physiology of Tonsils: The Functions:Tonsils, like any other body organ, have a specific role to play. Rather, tonsils have been allotted the vital task of checking if there are certain intruders such as bacteria, virus, allergens, etc attempting to attack the human body. Tonsils being lymphoid tissues, they produce the special cells called Lymphocytes. The Lymphocytes are similar to the white blood cells (Leukocytes) with which they form an immunological network of self-defense. Immunology of Tonsils: The Inner Power:As said earlier, the tonsils work as a filter which fights and protects the entire human system against the foreign organisms. They also help preventing spread of infection from the nearby organisms such as mouth, sinuses, postnasal part, etc. Tonsils produce antibodies, which fight against the infection, stopping its further spread to other parts of the body.

When the bacteria or virus attack the body, they initially have to face the tonsils. In the process of fighting towards the germs and microbes the tonsils get inflamed (called tonsillitis) which is simply a symbol of the local defense mechanism at work. In the process, they produce lymphocytes, and antibodies to generate the required immune response. When you see the tonsil infected, inflamed and swollen, actually you are seeing the tonsils at work. However, it is not implied that the inflamed tonsils do not need treatment. They do need treatment with a scientific attitude. They need to be treated but not to be necessarily removed! Compare them again with the soldiers fighting at the battle field, who need special care but not removal from the battle field unless they are seriously injured or incapable of doing their job!” Source

What tonsil does is to directly connect many cortical areas, has direct implications in many visceromotor and somatomotor changes which we won’t develop here but we try to remember the role in memory and fear. Yes the tonsil is known like “the center of fear” as well. Tonsils helps you learn what about you should take care and have fear, a great lesson indeed. For example: someone just stolen your car, you will be probably upset, furious and feel anxiety; well your tonsils take this information and than make the necessary connections to your brain areas which will consciously analyse and store this information to be used later with similar ocasions. Many significant people considers the fact that we are ruled by our fears. Think about that, it’s a relevant meditation to analyse yourself. Here we can include next to fear also anxiety, fury and aggressiveness.
Another important collateral thing to know is about what happens if the information which reached the first level of your nervous system (tonsils) for any reason doesn’t get through to your brain – like your stolen car incident. Well this means your reaction will be undeveloped in your conscious level and won’t be a typical one, could be something what you can’t understand yourself, or could be no reaction at all. But, and here comes a big “but” so listen carefully. The information remains there, forever and if after years you will have an accident or any powerful incident which will shaken your tonsils the informations about your stolen car will reach the right brain sector and all that reactions (fury, anxiety, aggressiveness) will just start to appear like that thing happened just than. You won’t associate the incident, you won’t know why. And this kind of things can happen anytime in time and develop reactions which many times lead your steps to a shrink or a psychologist who will tell you this comes from your childhood. Maybe, but maybe not !

Well I hope I captured your attention about how complex is the tonsil. So keep it up, don’t give up because becomes more interesting.

Now back to our unburned memory. Like we discussed about the importance of music in the first article of this series here we find out that music will use the accumulated memories in our tonsils and than hippocampus, to launch our associated emotions to specific music. Favorite songs will go from the tonsils to the reward center ( nucleus accumbens) that’s why if you listen that song later your emotions will be much more developed and full of happiness like you received a gift. Isn’t this nice ? Even the empathic powers are known that they have the starting point in the fear center. Really, there are so many interesting facts to reveal about this, maybe I should consider another article. Nah, I made this one long enough, no way back.
This time really I will focus just on our fetus – just keep in mind the tonsils are o powerful thing.

Why memories are good in the first place ? Dah, for learning. And music again – Alexandra Larmont (psychologist) tried to see exactly how much babies can remember their intrauterine life. So she did pretty much the same like DeCasper but with music and in the last 3 months of pregnancy. Than after 1 year 11 babies were tested. Every one of them showed a real interest for the songs heard in their “underwater” life. It was also a testing group of other 11 babies which showed no interest for any song whatsoever.
More than that, the fetus can learn the emotional states of his mummy. Moms looking to a stressful movie can make the fetus kicking hard, and later same baby can have similar reactions if sees that movie again.


Unborned can smell – this sense starts developing in the 11 and 15 week old fetus. Many of the food components get through placenta and our fetus will breath and also taste what he got. So any change in the mummy’s diet will confuse him/her, this can even affect the milk sucking later on. When baby is discontented with his food coming from the amniotic liquid will suck much slower. Will even stop his breathing when mummy is in alcohol or smoking mood.


The tactile sense – takes a huge part in developing all the other senses. Appears quickly (first) because its environment – the intrauterine cavity which obviously touches constantly the baby. Places (where the tactile sense evolves more and fast during the intrauterine life) will be also the most populated areas with sensitive receivers of the body to a grown up. These are: genital area (10 weeks); palms (11 weeks); peak feet (12 weeks). They make the intrauterine reactions posible to hair stimulus and later on (32 weeks) all body parts will be receptive to hair.
How an unburned reacts to pain ? By body movements, breathing rhythm and hormonal volcano.
Exist a human science called Haptonomy conceived by F. Veldman in 1994 which is a tactile dialog between parents and fetus, through “where gamma” which activated constantly in the same rhythm will release quick response from the fetus. Haptonomy use: great parent-child communication; easy birth.
About reactions to pain and aggression we should know that the unborn reacts to needle during amniocentesis. He can hide, push the needle or freeze by fear. Usually they freeze after the incident happened, sign that our tonsils are alert already and register new experiences.

What did we learned from all this ? Well many things I would say. That our responsibility like future parents starts same time with the moment we find out we are, I would say before even, but just for those with special extra senses. This can be a burden for some and a great knowledge to use for others. Imagine how many things you can do better for your future successful child. You can teach him so many things already, you can start to develop your mutual relationship, you can became more vigilant with everything happens during that time and home, like many other things.
For future moms: Your moods, relationship with your partner or the absence of him, your feelings about your baby and future motherhood, all this will arrive to your baby and will have a future behavior and development effect. The simple discussion about a potential abortion or rejection of the baby will decrease the appetite for life itself and his/her self-confidence will be seriously affected. For a fetus the abortion intention is the equivalent of murder. It’s even worst for the masculine gender who will feel fear and mistrust for female gender. Also his future sexual life could be pretty damaged. Want more ? Than find out that welcomed babies are much more clever and developed when they reach 3 months than the rest. Also they feel much more connected to their mother.
For future dads: I don’t wanna hurt any male figure in this story but you all need to accept the fact that in any babies life the first year is more attached to their mother than to their father, but relax after 1 year you became more and more needed. Until than you are also very important by making the mother happy and creating a harmonious environment with her and the fetus. Well this indirect job is very important. Look, if you like a father have a fight or any other disturbing action, the baby will be very disturbed and more. Tachycardia which can last for days may appear if you have a fight with the mother of your child. If you abuse the mother in any way the fetus won’t take enough oxygen like a self defense reaction to fear again. Or can became so agitated that will kick the mother really hard. All this are correlated with future neurological problems. So take it like your role is exactly the second after the mother (very closely second), nothing else is more important than you 2.
Unwanted children are more likely to have health problems, any kind of retard, respiratory problems, slow intellect, schizophrenia, delinquency, violent habits, addictions, suicide. They can also just die intrauterine or in the first months after birth. Not at last, unwanted children are more inclined to autism. Take the example of so many adopted children, so nothing is by coincidence.
I have even more: if a future mother is abandoned by the partner during her pregnancy and especially during the first months when everything is developing so quickly inside there, many bad things can happen. Surely will be very hard for her to be happy, but really happy not just controlled happiness which is worthless for the baby. And many women in this situation makes depression. What this it means for our fetus potential ? She can transmit this mood and abandoned feeling to her future child by her hormones. Schizophrenia and Alzheimer disease and not for least cancer are between the great potentials.
What can I say more ? I think I dedicated enough space to make you understand how things work. Sure not everyone will develop all this crazy things we discussed, don’t panic, but surely you can improve incomparable everything about your child future. And you will make your own life easier as well. Can you imagine what power do you have ? You are really a creator. Use it wisely.

See you next time…