Cardiac Orienting to Auditory Stimulation in the Fetus

The objective of this study was to longitudinally evaluate the cardiac response to auditory stimulation in fetuses born during their 28th gestational week. A longitudinal, within-subjects design allowed for interpretations of the cardiac response tracked from 28 to 38 weeks gestational age (GA). All mothers recited a short passage from 28 to 34 weeks GA, and their fetuses were tested at 28, 32, 33, and 34 weeks GA. Following discontinuation of maternal recitation at 34 weeks GA, testing continued at 36 and 38 weeks GA. Experimental subjects were tested with a recording of a female stranger speaking the assigned passage and control subjects tested with a novel passage. The cardiac response was evaluated visually and statistically based on the magnitude and duration of the changes in heart rate. Visually, the cardiac response transitioned from a minimal magnitude (<5 beats per minute) with short duration (<5 seconds) cardiac deceleration in both experimental and control subjects during testing from 28 to 38 weeks GA and was confirmed statistically. For all experimental subjects, however, a long duration or sustained (>5 seconds) cardiac deceleration of greater magnitude (>5 beats per minute) was detected during 34-, 36-, or 38-week test session and was confirmed using a computational algorithm in SAS. Further investigation into additional forms of auditory stimulation at different developmental time periods is needed.