Newborns

"Writing in the journal Current Biology, they say the babies are probably trying to form a bond with their mothers by imitating them. The French newborns cried with a rising "accent" while the German babies' cries had a falling inflection. The findings suggest that unborn babies are influenced by the sound of the first language that penetrates the womb. Dr Wermke said: "Newborns are highly motivated to imitate their mother's behavior in order to attract her and hence to foster bonding."

More information about this can be found on the BBC site