ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Annie Murphy Paul - Science author
Annie Murphy Paul investigates how life in the womb shapes who we become.

Why you should listen

To what extent the conditions we encounter before birth influence our individual characteristics? It‘s the question at the center of fetal origins, a relatively new field of research that measures how the effects of influences outside the womb during pregnancy can shape the physical, mental and even emotional well-being of the developing baby for the rest of its life.

Science writer Annie Murphy Paul calls it a gray zone between nature and nurture in her book Origins, a history and study of this emerging field structured around a personal narrative -- Paul was pregnant with her second child at the time. What she finds suggests a far more dynamic nature between mother and fetus than typically acknowledged, and opens up the possibility that the time before birth is as crucial to human development as early childhood.

Read Annie Murphy Paul's essay on CNN.com>>

More profile about the speaker
Annie Murphy Paul | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2011

Annie Murphy Paul: What we learn before we're born

Annie Murphy Paul: Cfare mesojme para se te lindim

Filmed:
2,517,731 views

Pop quiz: Kur fillon te mesuarit? Pergjigja: Para se ne te lindim. Shkrimtarja e shkences Annie Murphy Paul flet permes nje hulumtimi te ri i cili tregon sa shume mesojme ne barkun e nenes-- nga tingulli i gjuhes tone amtare deri tek ushqimet tona te preferuara.
- Science author
Annie Murphy Paul investigates how life in the womb shapes who we become. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
My subject today is learning.
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Tema ime per sot eshte te mesuarit.
00:18
And in that spirit, I want to spring on you all a pop quiz.
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Dhe ne kete fryme, une dua te drejtoj nje pop kuiz.
00:21
Ready?
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Gati?
00:23
When does learning begin?
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Kur fillon te mesuarit?
00:26
Now as you ponder that question,
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Tani perderisa e mendoni ate pyetje,
00:28
maybe you're thinking about the first day of preschool
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ndoshta ju jeni duke menduar per diten e pare te para-shkollores
00:30
or kindergarten,
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ose te kopshtit,
00:32
the first time that kids are in a classroom with a teacher.
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hera e pare qe femijet jane ne klase me nje mesues.
00:35
Or maybe you've called to mind the toddler phase
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Apo ndoshta ju keni deshire te kujtoni fazen e femijerise
00:38
when children are learning how to walk and talk
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kur femijet jane duke mesuar si te ecin dhe flasin
00:41
and use a fork.
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dhe te perdorin pirunin.
00:43
Maybe you've encountered the Zero-to-Three movement,
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Ndoshta ju e keni hasur levizjen Zero- ne Tre,
00:46
which asserts that the most important years for learning
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i cila pohon se vitet me te rendesishme te te mesuarit
00:49
are the earliest ones.
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jane ato me te hershmet
00:51
And so your answer to my question would be:
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Dhe keshtu, pergjigja juaj per pyetjen time do te ishte:
00:54
Learning begins at birth.
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Te mesuarit fillon ne lindje.
00:56
Well today I want to present to you
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Mire sot une dua t'ju prezantoj
00:58
an idea that may be surprising
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nje ide qe mund t'ju duket befasuese
01:01
and may even seem implausible,
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dhe mund t'ju duket e papranushme,
01:04
but which is supported by the latest evidence
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por e cila eshte mbeshtetur nga evidencat e fundit
01:06
from psychology and biology.
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nga psikologjia dhe biologjia.
01:09
And that is that some of the most important learning we ever do
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Dhe kjo do te thote se disa nga mesimet me te rendesishme
01:12
happens before we're born,
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ndodhin para se ne te lindim,
01:14
while we're still in the womb.
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ndersa jemi akoma ne bark te nenes.
01:17
Now I'm a science reporter.
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Tani une jam nje reporter sheknce.
01:19
I write books and magazine articles.
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Une shkruaj libra dhe artikuj ne revista.
01:21
And I'm also a mother.
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Dhe gjithashtu jam nene.
01:23
And those two roles came together for me
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Dhe keto dy role erdhen sebashku per mua
01:26
in a book that I wrote called "Origins."
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ne nje liber qe kam shkruar i quajtur "Origines."
01:29
"Origins" is a report from the front lines
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"Origines" eshte nje reportazh nga fronti i
01:32
of an exciting new field
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nje fushe te re ngazellyese kerkimesh
01:34
called fetal origins.
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e quajtur origjina embrionit
01:36
Fetal origins is a scientific discipline
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Origjina e embrionit eshte disipline shkencore
01:39
that emerged just about two decades ago,
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e cila u shfaq dy dekada me pare,
01:42
and it's based on the theory
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dhe eshte e bazuar ne teorine
01:45
that our health and well-being throughout our lives
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se shendeti yne dhe mireqenia pergjate jetes tone
01:48
is crucially affected
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influencohen shume
01:50
by the nine months we spend in the womb.
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nga nente muajt qe kalojme ne barkun e nenes.
01:53
Now this theory was of more than just intellectual interest to me.
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Kjo teori kishte me shume se interes intelektual per mua.
01:57
I was myself pregnant
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Une vete isha shtatetzene
01:59
while I was doing the research for the book.
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ndersa isha duke bere hulumtimet per kete liber.
02:02
And one of the most fascinating insights
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Dhe nje nder njohurite më interesante
02:04
I took from this work
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qe me ka dhene kjo pune
02:06
is that we're all learning about the world
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eshte se ne mesojme gjithe gjerat rreth botes
02:09
even before we enter it.
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akoma para se te futemi ne te.
02:12
When we hold our babies for the first time,
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Kur i mbajme bebet ne krahe per te paren here,
02:14
we might imagine that they're clean slates,
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ne mund te imagjinojme se ata jane pllaka te pasterta,
02:17
unmarked by life,
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te pa njollosura nga jeta,
02:19
when in fact, they've already been shaped by us
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kur ne fakt, ata tanime jane formuar nga ne
02:22
and by the particular world we live in.
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dhe nga bota e vecante qe ne jetojme.
02:26
Today I want to share with you some of the amazing things
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Sot dua te ndaj me juve disa gjera te mahnitshme
02:28
that scientists are discovering
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qe jane duke zbuluar shkenctareret
02:30
about what fetuses learn
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ne lidhje me ate se cka meson embrioni
02:32
while they're still in their mothers' bellies.
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perderisa ata akoma jane ne barkun e nenes
02:36
First of all,
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Se pari,
02:38
they learn the sound of their mothers' voices.
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ata mesojne tingullin e zerit te nenes se tyre
02:41
Because sounds from the outside world
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Sepse tingujt nga bota e jashtme
02:44
have to travel through the mother's abdominal tissue
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duhet te udhetojne neper indet abdominale te nenes
02:47
and through the amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetus,
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dhe permes lengut amniotik qe rrethon fetusin,
02:51
the voices fetuses hear,
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zerat qe fetusi degjon,
02:53
starting around the fourth month of gestation,
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fillojne rreth muajit te katert te shtatezanise,
02:56
are muted and muffled.
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jane te shurdhur.
02:58
One researcher says
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Nje hulumtues thote
03:00
that they probably sound a lot like the the voice of Charlie Brown's teacher
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se ata ndoshta duken sikur zeri i mesuesit te Charlie Brown
03:03
in the old "Peanuts" cartoon.
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ne filmin vizatimor "Peanuts"
03:06
But the pregnant woman's own voice
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Por zeri i gruas shtatezene
03:09
reverberates through her body,
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jehon neper trupin e saj,
03:11
reaching the fetus much more readily.
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duke e arritur fetusin shume me lehte.
03:14
And because the fetus is with her all the time,
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Dhe sepse fetusi eshte me te gjate gjithe kohes,
03:17
it hears her voice a lot.
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e degjon zerin e saj shume.
03:20
Once the baby's born, it recognizes her voice
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Njeheresh kur lind femiju, i'a njeh zerin e saj
03:23
and it prefers listening to her voice
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dhe preferon te degjoj zerin e saj
03:25
over anyone else's.
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me shume se cdo kujt tjeter.
03:27
How can we know this?
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Si mund ta dime kete?
03:29
Newborn babies can't do much,
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Femijet e posa lindur nuk mund te bejne shume,
03:31
but one thing they're really good at is sucking.
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por nje gje qe ata jane vertete te zote, eshte te thithin gji.
03:34
Researchers take advantage of this fact
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Hulumtuesit perfitojne nga ky fakt
03:37
by rigging up two rubber nipples,
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duke i mashtruar me dy biberona gome,
03:40
so that if a baby sucks on one,
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nese nje bebe e pi ne nje
03:42
it hears a recording of its mother's voice
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e degjon regjistrimin e zerit te nenes
03:44
on a pair of headphones,
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me nje kaske degjuese,
03:46
and if it sucks on the other nipple,
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dhe nese pi nga biberoni tjeter
03:48
it hears a recording of a female stranger's voice.
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degjon zerin e nje femre te pa njohur.
03:52
Babies quickly show their preference
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Femijet shpejt tregoj preferencat e tyre
03:55
by choosing the first one.
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duke e zgjedhur te paren.
03:58
Scientists also take advantage of the fact
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Shkenctaret gjithashtu perfitojne nga fakti
04:01
that babies will slow down their sucking
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se femijet do te ngadalsojne pirjen e tyre
04:03
when something interests them
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kur dicka i'u intereson atyre
04:05
and resume their fast sucking
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dhe e rifillojne pirjen e tyre te shpejte
04:07
when they get bored.
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kur ata merziten.
04:10
This is how researchers discovered
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Kjo eshte se si hulumtuesit zbuluan
04:12
that, after women repeatedly read aloud
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se, pasi qe gruaja lexonte me ze pa nderprerje
04:15
a section of Dr. Seuss' "The Cat in the Hat" while they were pregnant,
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nje paragraf nga Dr. Seuss " The Cat in the Hat" ndersa ato ishin shtatezene,
04:19
their newborn babies recognized that passage
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femijet e posa lindur e njohen ate fragment
04:22
when they hear it outside the womb.
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kur e degjuan jashte barkut te nenes.
04:25
My favorite experiment of this kind
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Eksperimenti im i preferuar i ketij lloji
04:28
is the one that showed that the babies
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eshte ai i cili tregoi se femijet
04:30
of women who watched a certain soap opera
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e gruas qe shikon nje serial televiziv te caktuar
04:32
every day during pregnancy
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cdo dite gjate shtatezanise
04:35
recognized the theme song of that show
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ka njohur melodine e kenges te atij shou-i
04:38
once they were born.
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kur linden.
04:41
So fetuses are even learning
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Pra fetuset madje jane duke mesuar
04:43
about the particular language that's spoken
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per nje gjuhe te vecante qe flitet
04:46
in the world that they'll be born into.
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ne boten qe ata do te lindin.
04:48
A study published last year
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Nje studim i publikuar vitin e shkuar
04:51
found that from birth, from the moment of birth,
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zbuloi se nga lindja, nga momenti i lindjes,
04:54
babies cry in the accent
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femijet qajne ne theks
04:56
of their mother's native language.
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te gjuhes ametare te nenes se tyre.
04:59
French babies cry on a rising note
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Bebet franceze qajne ne nje note ngritese
05:02
while German babies end on a falling note,
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ndersa bebet Gjermane me nje note te poshte,
05:05
imitating the melodic contours
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duke imituar vijat melodike
05:07
of those languages.
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te ketyre gjuheve.
05:09
Now why would this kind of fetal learning
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Tani pse ky lloj i te mesuarit te fetusit
05:11
be useful?
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te jete i dobishem?
05:13
It may have evolved to aid the baby's survival.
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Mund te kete evoluar per te ndihmuar mbijetesen e bebes.
05:16
From the moment of birth,
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Nga momenti i lindjes,
05:18
the baby responds most to the voice
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femiju u pergjigjet shumices se zerave
05:20
of the person who is most likely to care for it --
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personi qe eshte me i pelqyeshem per t'u kujdesur--
05:22
its mother.
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eshte nena.
05:24
It even makes its cries
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Kjo madje ben te qaren e saj
05:26
sound like the mother's language,
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te duket sikur gjuha e nenes,
05:28
which may further endear the baby to the mother,
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qe mund te hyje me shume ne zemer femija nenes,
05:31
and which may give the baby a head start
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dhe qe mund ti jape bebes nje avantazh
05:33
in the critical task
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ne detyren kritike
05:35
of learning how to understand and speak
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ne te mesuarit si te kuptoje dhe flase
05:38
its native language.
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gjuhen ametare.
05:40
But it's not just sounds
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Por nuk eshte vetem melodia
05:42
that fetuses are learning about in utero.
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qe fetuset jane duke mesuar ne miter.
05:44
It's also tastes and smells.
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Gjithashtu shijet dhe ererat.
05:47
By seven months of gestation,
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Ne muajin e shtate te shtatezanise,
05:49
the fetus' taste buds are fully developed,
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shijet e fetusit jane plotesisht te zhvilluara,
05:51
and its olfactory receptors, which allow it to smell,
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dhe receptoret e nuhatjes, te cilet e lejojne ate nuhatje
05:54
are functioning.
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jane funksionale.
05:56
The flavors of the food a pregnant woman eats
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Aroma e ushqimit qe ha nje grua shtatezene
05:59
find their way into the amniotic fluid,
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gjejne rrugen e tyre te lengu amniotik,
06:01
which is continuously swallowed
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i cili vazhdimisht gelltitet
06:03
by the fetus.
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nga fetusi.
06:05
Babies seem to remember and prefer these tastes
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Femijet duket qe kujtojne dhe preferojne keto shije
06:08
once they're out in the world.
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posa te dalin ne bote.
06:11
In one experiment, a group of pregnant women
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Ne nje eksperiment, nje grup i grave shtatezena
06:14
was asked to drink a lot of carrot juice
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i ishte kerkuar te pinte shume leng te karrotave
06:16
during their third trimester of pregnancy,
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gjate tre mujorit te trete te shtatezanise,
06:19
while another group of pregnant women
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gjersa nje grupit tjter te grave shtatezena
06:21
drank only water.
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pine vetem uje.
06:23
Six months later, the women's infants
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Gjashte muaj me vone, femijet e grave
06:26
were offered cereal mixed with carrot juice,
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iu dhane drithera te perziera me leng karrote,
06:29
and their facial expressions were observed while they ate it.
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dhe shprehjet e fytyres u observuan ndersa ata hanin ate.
06:33
The offspring of the carrot juice drinking women
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Pasardhesit e grave te cilet kane pire leng karrotash
06:35
ate more carrot-flavored cereal,
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kane ngrene me shume drithera te perziera me karrota
06:37
and from the looks of it,
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dhe nga cka pame,
06:39
they seemed to enjoy it more.
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ata u duken qe po e shijonin me shume.
06:41
A sort of French version of this experiment
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Nje version i njejte Francez i ketij eksperimenti
06:44
was carried out in Dijon, France
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eshte bere ne Dijon, France
06:46
where researchers found
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ku hulumtuesit zbuluan
06:48
that mothers who consumed food and drink
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se qe bebet e nenave qe konsumuan ushqim dhe lengje
06:51
flavored with licorice-flavored anise during pregnancy
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te aromamtizuar me shije anise gjate shtatezanise
06:56
showed a preference for anise
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shfaqen nje preference per anise
06:58
on their first day of life,
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ne diten e pare te jetes,
07:00
and again, when they were tested later,
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dhe prap, kur ishin provuar me vone,
07:02
on their fourth day of life.
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ne diten e katert te jetes.
07:04
Babies whose mothers did not eat anise during pregnancy
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Femijet nenat e te cileve nuk kane ngrene anise gjate shtatezanise
07:08
showed a reaction that translated roughly as "yuck."
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treguan nje reagim qe te ngjashem me "i shpifur".
07:12
What this means
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Cka do te thote kjo
07:14
is that fetuses are effectively being taught by their mothers
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eshte se fetuset jane duke mesuar nga nenat e tyre ne menyre efektive
07:16
about what is safe and good to eat.
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per cka eshte e sigurt dhe e mire te hame.
07:19
Fetuses are also being taught
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Fetuset gjitahshtu mesohen
07:21
about the particular culture that they'll be joining
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rreth kultures se vecante qe ata do t'i bashkangjiten
07:24
through one of culture's most powerful expressions,
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pergjate njeres nder shprehjeve me te fuqishme te kultures,
07:27
which is food.
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qe eshte ushqimi.
07:29
They're being introduced to the characteristic flavors and spices
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Ata po njihen me karakteristikat e shijeve dhe erezave
07:32
of their culture's cuisine
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te kuzhines se kultures se tyre
07:34
even before birth.
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para se te lindin.
07:37
Now it turns out that fetuses are learning even bigger lessons.
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Tani duket se fetuset jane duke mesuar madje mesime me te medha.
07:40
But before I get to that,
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Por para se t'a beje ate,
07:42
I want to address something that you may be wondering about.
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Dua te adresoj dicka qe ju ndoshta jeni duke menduar.
07:46
The notion of fetal learning
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Nocioni i te mesuarit te fetusit
07:48
may conjure up for you attempts to enrich the fetus --
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mund te sjell ne mendje perpjekjet tuaja per t'a pasuruar fetusin
07:51
like playing Mozart through headphones
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sikurse duke e luajtur Moxartin permes kufjeve
07:53
placed on a pregnant belly.
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te vendosura ne nje bark shtatezane
07:55
But actually, the nine-month-long process
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Por faktikisht, procesi nente mujoresh
07:58
of molding and shaping that goes on in the womb
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i formimit qe ndodh ne barkun e nenes
08:01
is a lot more visceral and consequential than that.
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eshte shume me i thelle dhe i rendesishem sesa ajo.
08:05
Much of what a pregnant woman encounters in her daily life --
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Me shume se cka nje grua shtatezene ballafaqohet ne jeten e saj te perditshme --
08:09
the air she breathes,
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ajrin qe ajo thith,
08:11
the food and drink she consumes,
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ushqimin dhe pijet qe ajo konsumon,
08:13
the chemicals she's exposed to,
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kimikateve te cilave i'u ekspozohet,
08:15
even the emotions she feels --
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madje edhe emocioneve qe ajo ndjen--
08:17
are shared in some fashion with her fetus.
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jane te perbashekta me fetusin e saj.
08:20
They make up a mix of influences
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Ato perbejne nje perzierje te ndikimeve
08:23
as individual and idiosyncratic
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si individ dhe idiosentrik
08:25
as the woman herself.
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si grua nje vetvete.
08:27
The fetus incorporates these offerings
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Fetusi perfshin keto oferta
08:29
into its own body,
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ne trupin e tij,
08:31
makes them part of its flesh and blood.
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i ben ato pjese e te mishit dhe gjakut te tij.
08:34
And often it does something more.
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Dhe shpesh bene dicka me shume.
08:36
It treats these maternal contributions
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I trajton keto kontribute amesore
08:39
as information,
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si informacion,
08:41
as what I like to call biological postcards
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sic une kam deshire t'a quaj si nje kartoline biologjike
08:43
from the world outside.
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nga bota e jashtme.
08:46
So what a fetus is learning about in utero
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Pra, cka eshte duke mesuar fetusi ne uteron
08:49
is not Mozart's "Magic Flute"
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nuk eshte "Magic Flute" e Mozartit
08:51
but answers to questions much more critical to its survival.
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por pergjigjet per pytjet shume me shume kritike per mbijetesen e saj.
08:55
Will it be born into a world of abundance
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A do te lind ne nje bote te begatise
08:57
or scarcity?
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ose te pamjaftushmerise?
08:59
Will it be safe and protected,
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A do te jete sigurt dhe e mbrojtur,
09:02
or will it face constant dangers and threats?
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ose a do te perballoj rreziqet dhe kercenimet e vazhdushme?
09:05
Will it live a long, fruitful life
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A do te jetoj nje jete te gjate dhe te frytshme
09:07
or a short, harried one?
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ose nje te shkurter?
09:10
The pregnant woman's diet and stress level in particular
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Dieta e gruas shtatezene dhe niveli i stresit ne vecanti
09:13
provide important clues to prevailing conditions
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sigurojne te dhena ne rendeishme per kushtet qe mbizoterojne
09:16
like a finger lifted to the wind.
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si nje gisht i ngritur ne ere.
09:19
The resulting tuning and tweaking
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Rezultatet e akorduara dhe harmonizuara
09:21
of a fetus' brain and other organs
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ne trurin e fetusit dhe organeve tjera
09:24
are part of what give us humans
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jane pjese e asaj qe na jep ne qenieve njerezore
09:26
our enormous flexibility,
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fleksibilitetin tone te madh,
09:28
our ability to thrive
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aftesine tone per te lulezuar
09:30
in a huge variety of environments,
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ne nje shumellojshmeri te madhe te mjedisit,
09:32
from the country to the city,
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nga fshati ne qytet,
09:34
from the tundra to the desert.
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nga tundra ne shkretire.
09:37
To conclude, I want to tell you two stories
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Per ta mbyllur, une do te ju tregoj dy histori
09:39
about how mothers teach their children about the world
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se si nenat i mesojne femijet e tyre per boten
09:42
even before they're born.
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madje para se ata te lindin.
09:46
In the autumn of 1944,
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Ne vjeshten e 1944,
09:48
the darkest days of World War II,
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ditet e zymta te Luftes se Dyte Boterore,
09:51
German troops blockaded Western Holland,
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trupat Gjermane bllokuan Hollanden Perendimore,
09:54
turning away all shipments of food.
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duke i kthyer te gjitha dergesat e ushqimit
09:57
The opening of the Nazi's siege
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Fillimi i rrethimit Nazist
09:59
was followed by one of the harshest winters in decades --
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u pasua nga nje nder dimrat me te ftohte ne dekada--
10:02
so cold the water in the canals froze solid.
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aq ftohte saqe ujerat ne kanale u ngrine u bene te ngurta.
10:06
Soon food became scarce,
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Se shpejti ushqimi u be i pamjatushem,
10:08
with many Dutch surviving on just 500 calories a day --
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shume hollandeze mbijetonin me 500 kalori ne dite--
10:12
a quarter of what they consumed before the war.
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cereku i asaj qe konsumonin para luftes.
10:15
As weeks of deprivation stretched into months,
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Pasiqe javet e privimit u zgjaten ne muaj,
10:18
some resorted to eating tulip bulbs.
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disa arriten te hanin qepujka rrenje tulipanesh.
10:21
By the beginning of May,
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Nga fillimi i Majit,
10:23
the nation's carefully rationed food reserve
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rezerva ushqimore e racionuar me kujdes nga shteti
10:25
was completely exhausted.
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ishte shteruar plotesisht.
10:27
The specter of mass starvation loomed.
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Spektri i urise masive u ngrit.
10:30
And then on May 5th, 1945,
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Dhe pastaj ne 5 Maj, 1945
10:33
the siege came to a sudden end
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rrethimit i erdhi nje fund i pa pritur
10:35
when Holland was liberated
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kur Holanda u lirua
10:37
by the Allies.
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nga Aleatet
10:39
The "Hunger Winter," as it came to be known,
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"Dimri i Urise" sic u njoh,
10:42
killed some 10,000 people
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vrau 10.000 njerez
10:44
and weakened thousands more.
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dhe dobesoi me mijera tjere.
10:46
But there was another population that was affected --
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Por ishte nje popull tjeter qe sihte prekur--
10:49
the 40,000 fetuses
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40.000 fetuset
10:51
in utero during the siege.
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ne utero gjate rrethimit.
10:54
Some of the effects of malnutrition during pregnancy
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Disa nga efektet e kequshqyerjes gjate shtatezanise
10:56
were immediately apparent
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u paraqiten menjehere
10:58
in higher rates of stillbirths,
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ne shkalle te larte tek te posalindurit,
11:00
birth defects, low birth weights
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defekte ne lindje, lindje me peshe te ulte
11:02
and infant mortality.
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dhe vdekshmeria e femijeve.
11:04
But others wouldn't be discovered for many years.
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Por te tjeret nuk do te zbuloheshin per vite te tera.
11:07
Decades after the "Hunger Winter,"
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Dekada pas " Dimrit te urise",
11:09
researchers documented
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hulumtuesit dokumentuan
11:11
that people whose mothers were pregnant during the siege
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se njerezit nenat e te cileve ishin shtatezena pergjate rrethimit
11:15
have more obesity, more diabetes
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kane me shume obesitet, me shume diabet
11:17
and more heart disease in later life
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dhe me shume semundje ne zemer ne jeten e me vonshme
11:20
than individuals who were gestated under normal conditions.
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sesa individet te cilet ishin zhvilluar nen kushte normale.
11:23
These individuals' prenatal experience of starvation
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Eksperincat e indvideve para lindjes te urise
11:27
seems to have changed their bodies
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duket se u'a kane ndryshuar trupat
11:29
in myriad ways.
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ne menyra te shumta.
11:31
They have higher blood pressure,
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Ato kane tension te larte te gjakut,
11:33
poorer cholesterol profiles
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profile te varfera te kolesterolit
11:35
and reduced glucose tolerance --
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dhe tolerance glukoze te reduktuar--
11:37
a precursor of diabetes.
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nje shenje paralajmeruese te diabeteve.
11:40
Why would undernutrition in the womb
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Pse kequshqyerja ne bark do te
11:42
result in disease later?
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rezultonte ne nje semundje me vone?
11:44
One explanation
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Nje shpjegim
11:46
is that fetuses are making the best of a bad situation.
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eshte sepse fetuset jane duke bere me te miren e nje situate te keqe.
11:49
When food is scarce,
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Kur eshte ushqimi i paket
11:51
they divert nutrients towards the really critical organ, the brain,
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ata shmangin lendet ushqyese ne drejtim te organit vertete kirtik, trurit,
11:54
and away from other organs
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dhe larg organeve tjera
11:56
like the heart and liver.
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sikurse zemra dhe mushkerit
11:58
This keeps the fetus alive in the short-term,
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Kjo e mban te gjalle fetusin ne nje periudhe te shkurter,
12:01
but the bill comes due later on in life
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por fatura vjen me vone ne jete
12:04
when those other organs, deprived early on,
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kur keto organe tjera, privohen me heret,
12:06
become more susceptible to disease.
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behen me te prekshem ndaj semundjeve.
12:09
But that may not be all that's going on.
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Por kjo nuk eshte e vetmja qe po ndodh.
12:12
It seems that fetuses are taking cues
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Duket sikur fetuset jane duke marr sygjerime
12:14
from the intrauterine environment
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nga mjedisi intraueterine
12:17
and tailoring their physiology accordingly.
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dhe duke u'a analizuar psikologjine e tyre ne perputhje me rrethanat.
12:19
They're preparing themselves
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Ata jane duke i pergatitur veten e tyre
12:21
for the kind of world they will encounter
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per llojin e botes qe ata do te takohen
12:23
on the other side of the womb.
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ne pjesen tjter te barkut.
12:25
The fetus adjusts its metabolism
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Fetusi e rregulon metabolzmin e vet
12:27
and other physiological processes
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ne procese tjere psikologjike
12:30
in anticipation of the environment that awaits it.
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ne pritje te mjedisit qe i pret ata.
12:33
And the basis of the fetus' prediction
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Dhe ne baze te parashikimit te fetusit
12:36
is what its mother eats.
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eshte se cka han nena e tyre.
12:38
The meals a pregnant woman consumes
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Ushqimet qe konsumon nje grua shtatezene
12:40
constitute a kind of story,
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perbejne nje lloj historie,
12:42
a fairy tale of abundance
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nje perralle e begatise
12:44
or a grim chronicle of deprivation.
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apo nje kronike e zymte e privimit.
12:47
This story imparts information
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Historia jep informacione
12:50
that the fetus uses
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se fetusi perdor
12:52
to organize its body and its systems --
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per te organizuar trupin dhe sistemet e tij--
12:54
an adaptation to prevailing circumstances
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nje pershtatje te rrethanve mbizoteruese
12:57
that facilitates its future survival.
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qe lehteson mbijetesen e se ardhmes
13:00
Faced with severely limited resources,
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Te ballafaquar me burime shume te kufizuara,
13:03
a smaller-sized child with reduced energy requirements
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nje femije me madhesi me te vogel me reduktimin e kerkesave te energjise
13:06
will, in fact, have a better chance
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ne fakt do te kene nje shans
13:08
of living to adulthood.
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per te jetuar ne moshen madhore.
13:10
The real trouble comes
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Problemi i vertete vjen
13:12
when pregnant women are, in a sense, unreliable narrators,
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kur grate shtatezena ne nje fare menyre nuk jane treguese te mira
13:15
when fetuses are led
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kur fetuset jane te prirura
13:17
to expect a world of scarcity
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qe te presin nje bote te mungeses
13:19
and are born instead into a world of plenty.
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dhe ne vend te saj lindin ne nje bote te shumices.
13:22
This is what happened to the children of the Dutch "Hunger Winter."
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Kjo eshte cka u ka ndodhur femijeve hollandez te " Dimrit te urise".
13:25
And their higher rates of obesity,
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Dhe shkalla me larte e trashjes,
13:27
diabetes and heart disease
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diabetit dhe semundjeve te zemres
13:29
are the result.
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jane rezultati.
13:31
Bodies that were built to hang onto every calorie
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Trupat qe ishin ndertuar per te rezervuar cdo kalori
13:34
found themselves swimming in the superfluous calories
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e gjeten veten e tyre duke lundruar ne kalori te teperta
13:36
of the post-war Western diet.
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ne dieten perendimore te pas luftes.
13:39
The world they had learned about while in utero
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Bota qe u ishte mesuar ndersa ne utero
13:42
was not the same
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nuk ishte e njejta
13:44
as the world into which they were born.
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me boten ne te cilen ata kishin lindur.
13:47
Here's another story.
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Ja edhe nje histori tjeter.
13:49
At 8:46 a.m. on September 11th, 2001,
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Ne ora 8: 46 me 11 Shtator, 2001,
13:53
there were tens of thousands of people
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kishte dhjetra mijera njerez
13:55
in the vicinity of the World Trade Center
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ne afersi te Qendres se Tregetise Boterore
13:57
in New York --
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ne New York--
13:59
commuters spilling off trains,
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banoret e periferise duke vrapuar tek trenat,
14:01
waitresses setting tables for the morning rush,
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kamariere duke rregulluar tavolinat per mengjesin e nxituar
14:04
brokers already working the phones on Wall Street.
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agjentet me telefona ne Wall Street.
14:08
1,700 of these people were pregnant women.
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1,700 e ketyre njerezve ishin gra shtatezena.
14:11
When the planes struck and the towers collapsed,
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3000
Kur aeroplani goditi dhe kullat u shemben,
14:14
many of these women experienced the same horrors
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shume prej ketyre grave provuan horroret e njejta
14:17
inflicted on other survivors of the disaster --
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me te mbijetuarit e tjere te fatkeqesise--
14:20
the overwhelming chaos and confusion,
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kaos derrmues dhe konfuzion,
14:22
the rolling clouds
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rete rokullisese
14:24
of potentially toxic dust and debris,
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4000
te pluhurit te mundshem helmues dhe copave,
14:28
the heart-pounding fear for their lives.
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rrahja e zemres per jeten e tyre.
14:30
About a year after 9/11,
335
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Rreth nje viti pas 9/11,
14:32
researchers examined a group of women
336
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hulumtuesit ekzaminuan nje grup grash
14:35
who were pregnant
337
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2000
qe ishin shtatezene
14:37
when they were exposed to the World Trade Center attack.
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kur ato ishin ekspozuar sulmit te Qendres se Tregtise Boterore.
14:39
In the babies of those women
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Ne foshnjet e ketyre grave
14:41
who developed post-traumatic stress syndrome, or PTSD,
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3000
te cilat zhvilluan sindromin e stresit pas-traumatik, ose PTSD,
14:44
following their ordeal,
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pas vujatjeve te tyre,
14:46
researchers discovered a biological marker
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hulumtuesit zbuluan nje shenje biologjike
14:49
of susceptibility to PTSD --
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te ndjeshmerise tek PTSD--
14:51
an effect that was most pronounced
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nje efekt qe me se shumti ishte shfaqur
14:54
in infants whose mothers experienced the catastrophe
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tek foshnjet nenat e te cileve provuan katastrofen
14:57
in their third trimester.
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ne tremujorin e trete.
14:59
In other words,
347
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Me fjale te tjera,
15:01
the mothers with post-traumatic stress syndrome
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nenat me sindromin e stresit pas-traumatik
15:04
had passed on a vulnerability to the condition
349
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3000
kaluan ne nje dobesi ne keto kushte
15:07
to their children while they were still in utero.
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tek femjet e tyre ndersa ata ishin akoma ne utero.
15:10
Now consider this:
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Tani konsideroni kete:
15:12
post-traumatic stress syndrome
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sindromin e stresit post-traumatik
15:14
appears to be a reaction to stress gone very wrong,
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3000
duket te jete nje reaksion i stresit qe eshte perkeqsuar
15:17
causing its victims tremendous unnecessary suffering.
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duke i'u shkaktuar viktimave vuajtje te pa nevojshme.
15:21
But there's another way of thinking about PTSD.
355
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3000
Por eshte nje menyre tjeter e te menduarit per PTSD.
15:24
What looks like pathology to us
356
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Cka duket si patologji per ne
15:27
may actually be a useful adaptation
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faktikisht mund te jete nje adaptim i dobishem
15:29
in some circumstances.
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ne disa rrethana.
15:31
In a particularly dangerous environment,
359
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Ne nje mjedis vecanerisht te rrezikshem,
15:34
the characteristic manifestations of PTSD --
360
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manifestimet karakteristike te PTSD--
15:37
a hyper-awareness of one's surroundings,
361
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nje mbi-vetdije e mjedisit te dikujt,
15:40
a quick-trigger response to danger --
362
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nje reagim i shpejte ndaj rrezikut--
15:43
could save someone's life.
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mund te shpetoje jeten e dikujt.
15:46
The notion that the prenatal transmission of PTSD risk is adaptive
364
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Nocioni se transmetimit paralindjes i rrezikut PTSD eshte i adaptushem
15:50
is still speculative,
365
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akoma eshte spekulativ,
15:52
but I find it rather poignant.
366
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por une e gjej si teper prekes.
15:55
It would mean that, even before birth,
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Kjo do te thote se, edhe para lindjes,
15:57
mothers are warning their children
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nenat jane duke i paralajmeruar femijet e tyre
15:59
that it's a wild world out there,
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se eshte nje bote e eger aty,
16:01
telling them, "Be careful."
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3000
duke i'u thene, "Keni Kujdes."
16:04
Let me be clear.
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Me lejoni te jem me qarte.
16:06
Fetal origins research is not about blaming women
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Hulumtimi i origjines se fetusit nuk eshte per te fajesuar grate
16:09
for what happens during pregnancy.
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se cka ndodh gjate shtatezanise.
16:11
It's about discovering how best to promote
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Eshte rreth te zbuluarit se si te promovohet me se miri
16:14
the health and well-being of the next generation.
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shendeti dhe mireqenia e gjenerates se ardhshme.
16:17
That important effort must include a focus
376
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Ajo perpjekje e rendesishme duhet te perfshije nje fokus
16:19
on what fetuses learn
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ne ate se cka mesojne fetuset
16:21
during the nine months they spend in the womb.
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gjate nente muajve qe ata kalojne ne bark.
16:24
Learning is one of life's most essential activities,
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Mesimi eshte njeri prej aktiviteteve me thelbesore te jetes,
16:27
and it begins much earlier
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dhe fillon shume me heret
16:29
than we ever imagined.
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sesa ne e kemi imagjinuar.
16:31
Thank you.
382
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Faleminderit.
16:33
(Applause)
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(Duartrokitje)
Translated by Ereblir Kadriu
Reviewed by Helena Bedalli

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Annie Murphy Paul - Science author
Annie Murphy Paul investigates how life in the womb shapes who we become.

Why you should listen

To what extent the conditions we encounter before birth influence our individual characteristics? It‘s the question at the center of fetal origins, a relatively new field of research that measures how the effects of influences outside the womb during pregnancy can shape the physical, mental and even emotional well-being of the developing baby for the rest of its life.

Science writer Annie Murphy Paul calls it a gray zone between nature and nurture in her book Origins, a history and study of this emerging field structured around a personal narrative -- Paul was pregnant with her second child at the time. What she finds suggests a far more dynamic nature between mother and fetus than typically acknowledged, and opens up the possibility that the time before birth is as crucial to human development as early childhood.

Read Annie Murphy Paul's essay on CNN.com>>

More profile about the speaker
Annie Murphy Paul | Speaker | TED.com