The Womb

More evidence today that what happens to you in the womb can have big impacts on your whole life. We've already seen this for schizophrenia, muscular dystrophy, and other diseases. And now:

Adults could be at greater risk of becoming anxious and vulnerable to poor mental health if they were deprived of certain hormones while developing in the womb according to new research by scientists at Cardiff and Cambridge universities. "The growth of a baby is a very complex process and there are lots of control mechanisms which make sure that the nutrients required by the baby to grow can be supplied by the mother," according to Professor Lawrence Wilkinson, who led the research.

"We were interested in how disrupting this balance could influence emotional behaviours a long time after being born, as an adult," he added.

Essentially what they did was screw with the placentas of a bunch of mice, and they ended up with offspring that were really messed up.

There is a whole class of folklore around the world that relates to how the experiences of the pregnant mother affect the baby. For example, if the mother sees anything really terrifying they baby may end up deformed. What if there is something to this?