Survivalist Pro
Photo by Dasha Pexels Logo Photo: Dasha

Do babies know they're alive?

With their uncoordinated movements and unfocused eyes, newborns may seem pretty clueless about the world. But new research finds that from the minute they are born, babies are well aware of their own bodies.

How can I freshen my scalp without washing my hair?
How can I freshen my scalp without washing my hair?

Use a Dry Shampoo Dry shampoo is a hair product that absorbs oil and dirt from your hair without needing water. Likewise, dry shampoos are great...

Read More »
What is the healthiest water to drink?
What is the healthiest water to drink?

pure spring water Mineral and pure spring water are some of the healthiest water you can drink because they're clean and contain all the essential...

Read More »

With their uncoordinated movements and unfocused eyes, newborns may seem pretty clueless about the world. But new research finds that from the minute they are born, babies are well aware of their own bodies. Body awareness is an important skill for distinguishing the self from others, and failure to develop body awareness may be a component of some disorders such as autism. But little research has been done to find out when humans start to understand that their body is their own. To determine babies' awareness of their bodies, the researchers took a page from studies on adults. In a famous illusion, people can be convinced that a rubber hand is their own if they see the hand stroked while their own hand, hidden from view, is simultaneously stroked. These studies show that information from multiple senses — vision and touch, in this case — are important for body awareness, said Maria Laura Filippetti, a doctoral student at the Center for Brain and Cognitive Development at the University of London. [Incredible! 9 Brainy Baby Abilities] To find out if the same is true of babies, Filippetti and her colleagues tested 40 newborns who were between 12 hours and four days old. The babies sat on the experimenter's lap in front of a screen. On-screen, a video showed a baby's face being stroked by a paintbrush. The researcher either stroked the baby's face with a brush in tandem with the stroking shown on the screen, or delayed the stroking by five seconds. Next, the babies saw the same video but flipped upside down. Again, the researcher stroked the infants' faces in tandem with the upside-down image or delayed the stroking by three seconds.

Working with babies so young is a challenge, Filippetti told LiveScience.

"It is challenging just in terms of the time you actually have when the baby is fully awake and responsive," she said. To determine whether the babies were associating the facial stroking they saw on-screen with their own bodies, as in the rubber-hand illusion, the researchers measured how long the babies looked at the screen in each condition. Looking time is the standard measurement used in infant research, because babies can't answer questions or verbally indicate their interest. The researchers found that babies looked the longest at the screen when the stroking matched what they felt on their own faces. This was true only of the right-side-up images; infants didn't seem to associate the flipped faces with their own. [See video of the baby experiment] The findings suggest that babies are born with the basic mechanisms they need to build body awareness, Filippetti and her colleagues report today (Nov. 21) in the journal Current Biology. "These findings have important implications for our understanding of body perception throughout development," Filippetti said. Perhaps more important, she added, becoming more knowledgeable about normal development may help scientists better understand autism and related disorders. Autism research frequently focuses on abnormalities in social development, Filippetti said, but less is known about how children with autism perceive the self. Editor's Note: This article was updated at 2 p.m. Eastern to correct the timing of the delay in some sessions of the experiment. It was five seconds, not three. Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.

What is the number 4 cause of death in the world?
What is the number 4 cause of death in the world?

The biggest causes of death in the US Cause of death Total number of deaths Percentage of total deaths 1. Heart disease 696,962 20.6% 2. Cancer...

Read More »
Why can't you use ocean water to put out fires?
Why can't you use ocean water to put out fires?

“Seawater puts out fire just as well as fresh water, and although seawater is tougher on pump equipment than fresh water, proper maintenance and...

Read More »

Can I teach myself psychology?

Psychology is one of the few fields of science where you can understand the basic concepts quickly on your own. While you need a full college program to master it, the preceding ways allow beginning students to learn the fundamentals of psychology at their own pace.

Learning a new subject on your own is always challenging, and psychology is no different. It requires a specific mindset and a willingness to experiment. Fortunately, a beginner can learn the basics of psychology with the right information. You just need to know where to start.

Luckily, there are several ways to begin your journey through psychology, including:

Take online psychology courses.

Listen to psychology podcasts.

Listen to lectures from famous psychologists.

Follow and read social media posts from psychologists.

Attend in-person psychology classes.

However, they all require a basic understanding of psychology and its various subtopics, but you can go quite far without a formal education. By reading further, you will learn these fundamental concepts as well as how you can easily implement each study method to get the most out of them.

How can I exercise my brain daily?
How can I exercise my brain daily?

Doing crossword puzzles, Sudoku games, jigsaw puzzles and other games that rely on logic, math, word and visuospatial skills are great ways to...

Read More »
What countries have no school?
What countries have no school?

All countries except Bhutan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vatican City have compulsory education.

Read More »
Do campsites charge for visitors?
Do campsites charge for visitors?

No matter which campground that campers choose to stay at, if they have friends or family living in or near that area, chances are, they'll want to...

Read More »
How many genders are there in world?
How many genders are there in world?

There are many different gender identities, including male, female, transgender, gender neutral, non-binary, agender, pangender, genderqueer, two-...

Read More »