Rex Trulove
It has been known for a while that human embryos that are about seven months along enter into REM sleep periodically. It has been exceptionally difficult to measure the brain activity of fetuses that are even seven months, though, so scientists have been unsure if younger fetuses also dream.
It has been learned, through inference, that is likely that they start dreaming substantially before the seventh month. This was discovered a decade ago, yet few people have heard about it.
To figure it out, a group of neuroscientists and a mathematician in Germany studied the fetuses of sheep. Sheep were chosen because the gestation period is similar to that of humans, sheep usually carry two fetuses, and sheep also dream.
Their research concluded that sheep fetuses begin to dream much earlier than the Rapid Eye Movements or REM commence. REM sleep is the tell-tale sign of dreaming activity. It is reasonable to assume that if sheep fetuses begin dreaming a substantial amount of time before REM sleep begins, that the same is almost certainly true of human fetuses.
If this is indeed the case, it could mean that human fetuses begin to dream at about 15-18 weeks.
Although the mortality is high, babies have survived after being delivered at just 20 weeks along in the pregnancy and develop into normal, healthy babies after the delivery. One such case occurred locally when complications caused the medical staff to deliver the little girl at 20 weeks. The doctors actually recommended aborting the child, but the mother refused to kill the fetus. The baby came into the world substantially pre-mature, but now, several months later, she is a healthy, strong, and happy infant with no signs of physical or mental difficulties.
The findings regarding fetuses dreaming prior to the start of REM sleep at seven months shows that human embryos could be quite a bit more developed than scientists originally thought, which would explain why a fetus that is born at 20 weeks could survive and develop normally.
Unfortunately, it is unlikely that this news will be widely spread. Why? Because one of the talking points pro-abortionists have used for years is that fetuses aren’t actually humans until they are born. Their contention is that the fetus can’t think and can’t be self-aware. The finding regarding dreams shows this talking point to be false. If they can dream, they are capable of thought. This strongly supports the pro-life part of the debate and the pro-life contention that abortion is the murder of a person.
My own biggest question is a lot more basic: What do you suppose a fetus, regardless of age, dreams about?
What I apparently have discovered due to the tragedy in my life of my husband suddenly passing away in 2017 is that babies who do not survive birth do continue on up above. So it would seem that there must be something they can dream about too. Perhaps of what the future will hold for them. After my husband had gone and I was a bundle of nerves he came to me and I felt and heard him He lay holding me for some time and suddenly I heard the voice of a child calling to him For some reason even though I could have no idea at all that this is so I realized that this was the voice of our child, a girl, who had been stillborn. She had met her father and wanted to be with him. I replied to the voice that he had come to calm mommy and that soon he would return. No I haven’t lost it and no I wasn’t asleep. My husband was with me and holding me tight and she did call out to him. His two children now grown from his first marriage are alive and well today. So if something like a stillbirth occurs obviously the child was meant for life it just did not happen and they continue on up in heaven. How I would love to explore all of this. You can imagine how much I had to remain calm and understanding during this time because I have always had contact and always been close to the world beyond.
The Bible is pretty plain that heaven is so far beyond what we can understand that it defies the imagination. With the wonders and things here on earth that have no explanation, I can certainly believe what the Bible says. The earth is nothing in comparison to heaven.
All of us are spiritual beings. The body we inhabit is a mere brief visit and blip in eternity.
I would love to know what their dreams consist of. Very interesting topic Rex.
For that matter, I’ve always wondered what cats and dogs dream about. But a fetus has no life experiences yet, so I wonder if it is dreaming about the sounds that it has heard or of the mother’s heartbeat or ???
I know, I believe cats and dogs dream about other cats and dogs but who knows! The fetus has to dream about the sounds it hears.