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To: sneakypete
When there is a heartbeat and brain activity.

And even that is arguable, since higher brain regions don't function for many months after birth. As I recall, humans are born with essentially a reptilian brains and a mass of non-functional higher brain tissue. If I am not mistaken, the neurons for all the higher brain functions are lacking "parts" to make them functional (e.g. myelin), which is only created months after birth and the higher brain then bootstraps itself. The parts are missing because the brain wouldn't fit out the birth canal if you had them.

Of course, this puts some people's claims of "remembering" their birth in a highly suspect light, seeing as how there was nothing to remember it with (since they lacked any type of higher brain at the time). But then, that was usually the domain of New Age hippies anyway...

103 posted on 02/01/2003 12:59:55 AM PST by tortoise
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To: tortoise
And even that is arguable, since higher brain regions don't function for many months after birth.

I stated what I did in a effort to keep it simple. You may well be right,but I'm not knowledgable enough to be competent to discuss it at that level.

105 posted on 02/01/2003 1:05:52 AM PST by sneakypete
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