Fetuses turned toward face-like light in the womb

Researchers at Lancaster University projected two patterns of light through the uterine wall onto fetuses at 34 weeks of pregnancy, one arranged like a face, with two dots above a third, and one with the same dots turned upside down.

Using 4D ultrasound, the researchers tracked each fetus's head movements and found they turned toward the face-like arrangement significantly more often than toward the upside-down version, a preference similar to the one already documented in newborn babies.

Because the preference showed up before birth, through tissue and amniotic fluid, the result suggested some pull toward face-like patterns is built in before a baby ever opens its eyes to the world, rather than learned entirely after birth. The technique, delivering patterns through the uterine wall, was new, and other researchers later questioned whether light passing through tissue could keep the pattern distinct.

A preference for faces, before the first glance.