Fetus in womb learns language cues before birth, study finds

Watch your mouth around your unborn child – he or she could be listening in. Babies can pick up language skills while they’re still in the womb, Finnish researchers say.

Fetuses exposed to fake words after week 29 in utero were able to distinguish them after being born, according to new research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Prenatal experiences have a remarkable influence on the brain's auditory discrimination accuracy, which may support, for example, language acquisition during infancy," the authors wrote in their study. 

As revealed by the allure of the so-called Mozart Effect – the idea that exposing the fetus to classical music earns kids extra IQ points in spatial reasoning down the line – parents are constantly looking for ways to give their children an intelligence advantage.

That’s even if the research their parenting tactics are based on is too narrow to draw such broad conclusions or remains under question (the Mozart Effect was deemed "crap," for example, by one scientist.)

Nonetheless, scientists have discovered plenty of evidence that what's heard in utero can make a lasting impression. Fetuses respond differently to native and nonnative vowels, and newborns cry with their native language prosody (a combination of rhythm, stress and intonation). Researchers led by Eino Partanen at the University of Helsinki wanted to see what other language cues a fetus might pick up in the womb.