title: Ultrasonographic Investigation of Human Fetus Responses to Maternal Communicative and Non-communicative Stimuli.
abstract: During pregnancy fetuses are responsive to the external environment, specifically to maternal stimulation. During this period, brain circuits develop to prepare neonates to respond appropriately. The detailed behavioral analysis of fetus' mouth movements in response to mothers' speech may reveal important aspects of their sensorimotor and affective skills; however, to date, no studies have investigated this response. Given that newborns at birth are capable of responding with matched behaviors to the social signals emitted by the caregiver, we hypothesize that such precocious responses could emerge in the prenatal period by exploiting infants' sensitivity to their mother's voice. By means of a two-dimensional (2D) ultrasonography, we assessed whether fetuses at 25 weeks of gestation, showed a congruent mouthmotor response to maternal acoustic stimulation. Mothers were asked to provide different stimuli, each characterized by a different acoustic output (e.g., chewing, yawning, nursery rhymes, etc.) and we recorded the behavioral responses of 29 fetuses. We found that, when mothers sang the syllable LA in a nursery rhyme, fetuses significantly increased mouth openings. Other stimuli provided by the mother did not produce other significant changes in fetus' behavior. This finding suggests that fetuses are sensitive only to specific maternal vocalizations (LA) and that fetal matched responses are rudimentary signs of early mirroring behaviors that become functional in the postnatal period. In conclusion, fetuses seem to be predisposed to respond selectively to specific maternal stimuli. We propose that such responses may play a role in the development of behavioral and emotional attunement with their mothers long before birth.
authors.affiliation: Associazione 9 Mesi Ed Oltre Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriella A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Ylenia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nicolini
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of ParmaParma, Italy; Natural History Museum, University of PisaPisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Demuru
authors.affiliation: Associazione 9 Mesi Ed Oltre Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tosato
authors.affiliation: Centro Diagnostico Europeo, 'Poliambulatorio Dalla Rosa Prati' Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Merhi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: Associazione 9 Mesi Ed Oltre Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scesa
authors.affiliation: Associazione 9 Mesi Ed Oltre Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Romei
authors.affiliation: Centro Diagnostico Europeo, 'Poliambulatorio Dalla Rosa Prati' Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boerci
authors.affiliation: Associazione 9 Mesi Ed Oltre Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Iappini
authors.affiliation: Associazione 9 Mesi Ed OltreParma, Italy; Centro Diagnostico Europeo, 'Poliambulatorio Dalla Rosa Prati'Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dalla Rosa Prati
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum, University of PisaPisa, Italy; Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Consiglio Nazionale delle RicercheRome, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Palagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Pier F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Ferrari
keywords: acoustic-visual integration; matching system; mother communication; mouth movements; voice