Babies are clear about musical preferences, at least when they are in the womb. Classical music is preferred by fetuses, ahead of traditional music and pop-rock.
However, fetuses between 18 and 38 weeks of gestation allow a single contemporary exception among their exquisite musical tastes: Queen's song 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.
Mozart, the favorite
Mozart's 'Little Night Serenade' is the favorite piece of most of the 300 fetuses between 18 and 38 weeks who have participated in the study Fetal facial expression in response to intravaginal emission of different types of music, carried out by the assisted reproduction clinic Institut Marquès.
Apart from the classical music of Mozart, Bach or Prokofiev, babies in the womb love popular songs like the carol "Bell on bell" or the music of African drums. Interestingly, the Queen group makes a dent between the preferences of babies from before birth with the theme 'Bohemian Rapsody' and the Village People are also well positioned. Shakira and Adele, however, do not pass the approved.
How was it done?
The study has been done exposing 300 fetuses between 18 and 38 weeks of gestation to 15 songs of three different musical styles: classical, traditional and pop-rock. To carry it out, a vaginal loudspeaker developed by the institute itself was used since the fetuses can hear from week 16, when they measure 11 centimeters, but only "if the sound comes directly from the vagina. The fetuses can barely hear the noise coming from abroad ", as the director of the Marquès Institute, Marisa López-Teijón, points out.
Then, by ultrasound, the reactions of opening the mouth and sticking out the tongue in the fetuses were studied. The musical style that caused a higher percentage of fetuses to move their mouths was classical music (84%), followed by traditional music (79%), placing pop-rock in third place (59%). As for the fetuses that stuck out their tongue (protrusion), again classical music was the style that achieved a higher percentage (35%), ahead of traditional (20%) and pop-rock (15%) .
Melodies that last
According to the authors of the study, the reason why certain types of music cause such positive stimuli in fetuses is unknown. According to Dr. López-Teijón:
"In all cases, these are melodies that have endured over the years, be it a Mozart serenade or the ancestral sound of African drums. Precisely this traditional music, with simple and repetitive sounds, is the one that also likes to newborn babies. Music is the most ancestral form of communication between humans: communication through sounds, gestures and dances preceded spoken language. "
This expert points out that the first language was more musical than verbal and still is. Just look at how, instinctively, adults do not direct babies in a more acute and melodic voice than normal to get their attention. Despite our efforts, it seems that children in the womb prefer Mickey Mouse's falsetto voice to human.
The little ones among the kids have already made their musical selection: Mozart, 'Campana sobre campana' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody', by Queen, among the favorite songs of babies in the womb.
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