Name:Leonie, Loehn

School/Affiliation:University of Waikato

Co-Authors:Kirsty Dunn, Michelle To, Vincent M. Reid

Virtual or In-person:Virtual

Short Bio:

I am currently a third year PhD student at Te Kura Whatu Oho Mauri - School of Psychology at The University of Waikato, New Zealand for which I am holding a University of Waikato Doctoral Scholarship. My research is about foetal auditory perception for which I use foetal heart rate as well as foetal brain activity measures to investigate how musical stimuli are processed during late gestation. In addition, I have done a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that used functional magnetic resonance imaging or foetal magnetoencephalography to measure foetal evoked responses to sensory stimuli.

Abstract:

Previous studies have shown that some musical processes are already present during late gestation. Foetal timbre and harmony perception have not yet been investigated, but newborns can already discriminate different timbres and harmonies. Given the prenatal origin of many neonatal competences, these musical abilities might also start during gestation which is the objective of the present study.
Experiment 1 uses a clarinet, a trumpet, and a violin timbre while Experiment 2 uses various major and minor chords. Both experiments are divided into several sound and silence blocks. Foetal heart rate (FHR) will be measured with a cardiotocograph and 2D-ultrasound will be used to perform foetal check-ups and to monitor foetal movements during the experiments.
It is hypothesised that we will see an initial decrease in the FHR after stimulus presentation as part of an orienting response, followed by a slowly decreasing heart rate acceleration, as has been shown in previous FHR studies. This response will decrease during individual sound blocks, showing habituation to the repeatedly presented stimulus. If foetuses are able to discriminate musical timbres and harmonies, it is expected to see an increase in the FHR response when a new stimulus is being introduced.
FHR will be analysed in a time series analysis.
The results will add to the existing knowledge of foetal auditory processing capacities. Future studies will then be able to determine how prenatal music exposure affects (early) development and how we can utilise music to help foetuses with risk factors for atypical development.