We Are Our Brains Read Online Free PDF

hearing the same music. Hearing the mother’s voice while in the womb could play a role in the development of language and the bond between mother and child. Newborn babies prefer their mother’s voice, particularly if it’s distorted in the way that it would have been in the womb. They can also recognize a story repeatedly read aloud by the mother during pregnancy. However, the fetal memory for sounds has its dangers. Newborn babies show a clear response when they hear the theme tune of television soaps obsessively watched by their mothers during pregnancy. They stop crying and listen alertly to the highly familiar tune, and you wonder whether they are doomed to be addicted to such programs when they grow up. The unborn child’s great sensitivity to melody might also explain why French babies cry with a rising intonation and German babies with a falling intonation, reflecting the different intonation contours of the two languages. Might this be the first expression of musical ability?
    Babies can also remember scent and taste stimuli from the womb. Their mother’s smell is instantly recognized after birth, which maybe important to successful breast-feeding. Newborn babies normally dislike the smell of garlic, but if a woman eats garlic during pregnancy, her baby will not be averse to its smell. It is interesting to note that culinary differences between the French and the Dutch go back all the way to intrauterine experiences!
    In sum, the fetus has a memory of sound, vibration, taste, and smell. So it’s possible that we’re ruining our children’s brains not just by smoking and drinking and by taking medicine and other drugs but also by watching bad television programs. In other words, you’d do well to pick up a good book now and again and read to your unborn child in the hope that the next generation will rediscover literature. And that’s not a new idea, by the way, because as far back as A.D. 200–600, the Talmud made mention of prenatal stimulation programs. But memories of the womb aren’t detailed and as far as we know disappear within a few weeks, instead of lasting a lifetime, as some therapists and Salvador Dalí would have us believe.

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Threats to the Fetal Brain in the “Safety” of the Womb

DEVELOPMENTAL BRAIN DISORDERS CAUSED BY ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
    We pollute our children’s amniotic fluid.
    Our brains develop with incredible rapidity before birth and in the years immediately after. Moreover, each tiny area of the brain and each cell type within that area develops at a different tempo. During this period of explosive growth, brain cells are extremely susceptible to a number of different factors. First, for the brain to develop normally, the unborn child needs sufficient nourishment. Its thyroid gland also needs to function properly. At this stage, brain development is determined in general by our genetic background and in detail by the activity of our nerve cells. These, in turn, are influenced by the availability of nutrients, chemical messengers from other brain cells (neurotransmitters), growth regulators, and hormones. At that stage, the unborn child’s sex hormones regulate the sexual differentiation of the brain. Substances that enter the fetal system via the placenta can derail the delicate process of brain development. These can either come from the environment or be ingestedby the expectant mother (for instance, alcohol, nicotine, and other addictive substances and medications).
    Sadly, we live in a world in which 200 million children suffer from serious and lasting brain damage due to lack of nourishment. Not only is their mental capacity impaired; they also have an increased risk of schizophrenia, depression, and antisocial behavior. This was shown by a study of children born in the major Dutch cities during the famine (“Hunger Winter”) of 1944–1945 ( fig. 9 ). Even in today’s affluent society the same problem