I know of approximately two people reading this blog who will appreciate what I am about to say.  When I was about 25 weeks pregnant, I noticed for the first time that the baby would startle to loud noises.  The first time I noticed this, I was eating breakfast and text messaging with my good pal Sue before I left for work.  I had my phone sitting on my lap, and when a text message came through, the phone beeped and vibrated.  The baby suddenly jumped, presumably in response to this.  Maybe a week after that, Rob went to turn on the stereo not realizing that the volume was already turned up a tad.  When the music came on, the baby jumped very suddenly.  The important thing to point out here is that in both instances, these responses were completely independent of my own behavior.  I didn’t jump or startle whatsoever to either of these stimuli, yet the baby was exhibiting what I assume to be a robust startle response to unexpected, loud stimuli, when things were otherwise quiet and calm.  What is most exciting about this is the following:

 

At just 25 weeks gestation, the baby can not only hear, but also can exhibit the wonderfully adaptive startle response, consisting of just three synapses.  At 25 weeks pregnant, I was in awe about this!  “My baby has those synapses already!” I kept thinking to myself.  It still really amazes me when I think about it—for those of you (two of you) reading this who have studied startle in rats or mice, feel free to giggle at me for being so excited about this.