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　　a sort of french version of this experiment was carried out in dijon, france where researchers found that mothers who consumed food and drink flavored with licoriceflavored anise during pregnancy showed a preference for anise on their first day of life, and again, when they were tested later, on their fourth day of life. babies whose mothers did not eat anise during pregnancy showed a reaction that translated roughly as amp。quot。yuck.amp。quot。 what this means is that fetuses are effectively being taught by their mothers about what is safe and good to eat. fetuses are also being taught about the particular culture that theyamp。39。ll be joining through one of cultureamp。39。s most powerful expressions, which is food. theyamp。39。re being introduced to the characteristic flavors and spices of their cultureamp。39。s cuisine even before birth.
　　now it turns out that fetuses are learning even bigger lessons. but before i get to that, i want to address something that you may be wondering about. the notion of fetal learning may conjure up for you attempts to enrich the fetus like playing mozart through headphones placed on a pregnant belly. but actually, the ninemonthlong process of molding and shaping that goes on in the womb is a lot more visceral and consequential than that. much of what a pregnant woman encounters in her daily life the air she breathes, the food and drink she consumes, the chemicals sheamp。39。s exposed to, even the emotions she feels are shared in some fashion with her fetus. they make up a mix of influences as individual and idiosyncratic as the woman herself. the fetus incorporates these offerings into its own body, makes them part of its flesh and blood. and often it does something more. it treats these maternal contributions as information, as what i like to call biological postcards from the world outside.
　　so what a fetus is learning about in utero is not mozartamp。39。s amp。quot。magic fluteamp。quot。 but answers to questions much more critical to its survival. will it be born into a world of abundance or scarcity? will it be safe and protected, or will it face constant dangers and threats? will it live a long, fruitful life or a short, harried one? the pregnant womanamp。39。s diet and stress level in particular provide important clues to prevailing conditions like a finger lifted to the wind. the resulting tuning and tweaking of a fetusamp。39。 brain and other organs are part of what give us humans our enormous flexibility, our ability to thrive in a huge variety of environments, from the country to the city, from the tundra to the desert.
　　to conclude, i want to tell you two stories about how mothers teach their children about the world even before theyamp。39。re born. in the autumn of 1944, the darkest days of world war ii, german troops blockaded western holland, turning away all shipments of food. the opening of the naziamp。39。s siege