A new study from the University of Virginia confirms what many parents have long believed, that their child’s personality already began developing in the womb.
Published in the journal “Frontiers in Psychiatry,” the study found that some behavioral traits, such as cuddliness or perceptual sensitivity, already are hardwired into a newborn baby’s brain, according to UVA Today.
The Charlotte Lozier Institute recently highlighted the study on Twitter, noting how it validates the uniqueness and value of unborn babies.
“A recent UVA study suggests that unborn babies begin developing their personality in the womb, finding that ‘neural connections in human brains that determine human behavioral traits are already present from birth and are unique to each individual,’” the research group wrote.
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The study, led by Tobias Grossmann, a professor of psychology and director of the University of Virginia Babylab, used brain imaging to study different parts of babies’ brains at birth and again two weeks of age.
The researchers found that the different areas of the babies’ brains already were communicating in ways that indicate unique personality traits, such as sadness, laughter, fear, cuddliness, soothability and perceptual sensitivity, according to the study.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that connectivity for this specific brain network develops early in human infancy and plays a role in accounting for individual differences in emerging self-regulation and control skills among infants,” Grossmann said.
The team noticed that these unique brain connections were already there at birth, meaning they began to develop while the baby was still in the womb.
Grossmann said their results should not be a surprise, because theirs is not the first study showing that “a lot of [development] has already happened in the womb.”
Other studies have shown unborn babies reacting to various stimuli in the womb, including music and sound. Researchers also found that unborn babies develop a sense of taste in the womb and learn to recognize the flavors and spices of the culture’s cuisine.
Scientific advances have provided an amazing window into the womb. It is clearer than ever that unborn babies are unique, irreplaceable human beings with traits unlike any other human being who ever existed or ever will exist.
