babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Newborns Learn While Sleeping
In what has got to be the cutest scientific experiment you’ll read about today, researchers at the University of Florida have found that when newborn babies are getting their daily 16 to 18 hours of shuteye, they are not as zoned out as they appear to be. In fact, under the right circumstances, they could actually be learning.
In this first-of-its-kind study, psychology research associate Dana Boyd and her colleagues set out to discover just how newborn babies, who sleep most of the time, are able to learn so quickly. What they discovered is that compared to older children and adults, a newborn’s brain is quite active during sleep. So active, in fact, that they are capable of absorbing and learning from outside stimulus even when peacefully slumbering.
The researchers tested the learning abilities of sleeping newborns by sounding a tone and then immediately following up with a gentle puff of air on the baby’s eyelids. After about 20 minutes of this, 24 of the 26 babies being studied began to anticipate the puff of air, squeezing their eyelids tight after hearing the tone.
Why does this matter? Besides giving us all an adorable mental image of a little baby squeezing her eyelids shut, it could actually help doctors discover developmental disabilities in very young children. Because this learned eyelid movement represents the normal functioning of the circuitry in the cerebellum, the lack of it might provide early identification of babies who are at potential risk for developmental disorders including autism and dyslexia.
Image: sean_mcgee/Flickr
More from this author:
California Wants No Part of Texas Textbooks
Life Without Parole “Cruel and Unusual” to Minors
Wii Gets Stamp of Approval from American Heart Association
Parents Turn Kids Into Lab Rats for Profit
Popular Fragrances Laced With Toxic Chemicals
Ground Beef in Schools to Be Safer
High School Kids Cheat. A Lot.
Top Ten Regrettable Baby Names
Go Back To Strollerderby
0 Comments
[...] Newborns Learn While Sleeping [...]
Reading Proficiency Should be National Priority | Strollerderby commented on May 19 10 at 1:21 pmAdd your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
0