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

Translator: Ereblir Kadriu Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

My subject today is learning.

Tema ime per sot eshte te mesuarit.

And in that spirit, I want to spring on you all a pop quiz.

Dhe ne kete fryme, une dua te drejtoj nje pop kuiz.

Ready?

Gati?

When does learning begin?

Kur fillon te mesuarit?

Now as you ponder that question,

Tani perderisa e mendoni ate pyetje,

maybe you're thinking about the first day of preschool

ndoshta ju jeni duke menduar per diten e pare te para-shkollores

or kindergarten,

ose te kopshtit,

the first time that kids are in a classroom with a teacher.

hera e pare qe femijet jane ne klase me nje mesues.

Or maybe you've called to mind the toddler phase

Apo ndoshta ju keni deshire te kujtoni fazen e femijerise

when children are learning how to walk and talk

kur femijet jane duke mesuar si te ecin dhe flasin

and use a fork.

dhe te perdorin pirunin.

Maybe you've encountered the Zero-to-Three movement,

Ndoshta ju e keni hasur levizjen Zero- ne Tre,

which asserts that the most important years for learning

i cila pohon se vitet me te rendesishme te te mesuarit

are the earliest ones.

jane ato me te hershmet

And so your answer to my question would be:

Dhe keshtu, pergjigja juaj per pyetjen time do te ishte:

Learning begins at birth.

Te mesuarit fillon ne lindje.

Well today I want to present to you

Mire sot une dua t'ju prezantoj

an idea that may be surprising

nje ide qe mund t'ju duket befasuese

and may even seem implausible,

dhe mund t'ju duket e papranushme,

but which is supported by the latest evidence

por e cila eshte mbeshtetur nga evidencat e fundit

from psychology and biology.

nga psikologjia dhe biologjia.

And that is that some of the most important learning we ever do

Dhe kjo do te thote se disa nga mesimet me te rendesishme

happens before we're born,

ndodhin para se ne te lindim,

while we're still in the womb.

ndersa jemi akoma ne bark te nenes.

Now I'm a science reporter.

Tani une jam nje reporter sheknce.

I write books and magazine articles.

Une shkruaj libra dhe artikuj ne revista.

And I'm also a mother.

Dhe gjithashtu jam nene.

And those two roles came together for me

Dhe keto dy role erdhen sebashku per mua

in a book that I wrote called "Origins."

ne nje liber qe kam shkruar i quajtur "Origines."

"Origins" is a report from the front lines

"Origines" eshte nje reportazh nga fronti i

of an exciting new field

nje fushe te re ngazellyese kerkimesh

called fetal origins.

e quajtur origjina embrionit

Fetal origins is a scientific discipline

Origjina e embrionit eshte disipline shkencore

that emerged just about two decades ago,

e cila u shfaq dy dekada me pare,

and it's based on the theory

dhe eshte e bazuar ne teorine

that our health and well-being throughout our lives

se shendeti yne dhe mireqenia pergjate jetes tone

is crucially affected

influencohen shume

by the nine months we spend in the womb.

nga nente muajt qe kalojme ne barkun e nenes.

Now this theory was of more than just intellectual interest to me.

Kjo teori kishte me shume se interes intelektual per mua.

I was myself pregnant

Une vete isha shtatetzene

while I was doing the research for the book.

ndersa isha duke bere hulumtimet per kete liber.

And one of the most fascinating insights

Dhe nje nder njohurite më interesante

I took from this work

qe me ka dhene kjo pune

is that we're all learning about the world

eshte se ne mesojme gjithe gjerat rreth botes

even before we enter it.

akoma para se te futemi ne te.

When we hold our babies for the first time,

Kur i mbajme bebet ne krahe per te paren here,

we might imagine that they're clean slates,

ne mund te imagjinojme se ata jane pllaka te pasterta,

unmarked by life,

te pa njollosura nga jeta,

when in fact, they've already been shaped by us

kur ne fakt, ata tanime jane formuar nga ne

and by the particular world we live in.

dhe nga bota e vecante qe ne jetojme.

Today I want to share with you some of the amazing things

Sot dua te ndaj me juve disa gjera te mahnitshme

that scientists are discovering

qe jane duke zbuluar shkenctareret

about what fetuses learn

ne lidhje me ate se cka meson embrioni

while they're still in their mothers' bellies.

perderisa ata akoma jane ne barkun e nenes

First of all,

Se pari,

they learn the sound of their mothers' voices.

ata mesojne tingullin e zerit te nenes se tyre

Because sounds from the outside world

Sepse tingujt nga bota e jashtme

have to travel through the mother's abdominal tissue

duhet te udhetojne neper indet abdominale te nenes

and through the amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetus,

dhe permes lengut amniotik qe rrethon fetusin,

the voices fetuses hear,

zerat qe fetusi degjon,

starting around the fourth month of gestation,

fillojne rreth muajit te katert te shtatezanise,

are muted and muffled.

jane te shurdhur.

One researcher says

Nje hulumtues thote

that they probably sound a lot like the the voice of Charlie Brown's teacher

se ata ndoshta duken sikur zeri i mesuesit te Charlie Brown

in the old "Peanuts" cartoon.

ne filmin vizatimor "Peanuts"

But the pregnant woman's own voice

Por zeri i gruas shtatezene

reverberates through her body,

jehon neper trupin e saj,

reaching the fetus much more readily.

duke e arritur fetusin shume me lehte.

And because the fetus is with her all the time,

Dhe sepse fetusi eshte me te gjate gjithe kohes,

it hears her voice a lot.

e degjon zerin e saj shume.

Once the baby's born, it recognizes her voice

Njeheresh kur lind femiju, i'a njeh zerin e saj

and it prefers listening to her voice

dhe preferon te degjoj zerin e saj

over anyone else's.

me shume se cdo kujt tjeter.

How can we know this?

Si mund ta dime kete?

Newborn babies can't do much,

Femijet e posa lindur nuk mund te bejne shume,

but one thing they're really good at is sucking.

por nje gje qe ata jane vertete te zote, eshte te thithin gji.

Researchers take advantage of this fact

Hulumtuesit perfitojne nga ky fakt

by rigging up two rubber nipples,

duke i mashtruar me dy biberona gome,

so that if a baby sucks on one,

nese nje bebe e pi ne nje

it hears a recording of its mother's voice

e degjon regjistrimin e zerit te nenes

on a pair of headphones,

me nje kaske degjuese,

and if it sucks on the other nipple,

dhe nese pi nga biberoni tjeter

it hears a recording of a female stranger's voice.

degjon zerin e nje femre te pa njohur.

Babies quickly show their preference

Femijet shpejt tregoj preferencat e tyre

by choosing the first one.

duke e zgjedhur te paren.

Scientists also take advantage of the fact

Shkenctaret gjithashtu perfitojne nga fakti

that babies will slow down their sucking

se femijet do te ngadalsojne pirjen e tyre

when something interests them

kur dicka i'u intereson atyre

and resume their fast sucking

dhe e rifillojne pirjen e tyre te shpejte

when they get bored.

kur ata merziten.

This is how researchers discovered

Kjo eshte se si hulumtuesit zbuluan

that, after women repeatedly read aloud

se, pasi qe gruaja lexonte me ze pa nderprerje

a section of Dr. Seuss' "The Cat in the Hat" while they were pregnant,

nje paragraf nga Dr. Seuss " The Cat in the Hat" ndersa ato ishin shtatezene,

their newborn babies recognized that passage

femijet e posa lindur e njohen ate fragment

when they hear it outside the womb.

kur e degjuan jashte barkut te nenes.

My favorite experiment of this kind

Eksperimenti im i preferuar i ketij lloji

is the one that showed that the babies

eshte ai i cili tregoi se femijet

of women who watched a certain soap opera

e gruas qe shikon nje serial televiziv te caktuar

every day during pregnancy

cdo dite gjate shtatezanise

recognized the theme song of that show

ka njohur melodine e kenges te atij shou-i

once they were born.

kur linden.

So fetuses are even learning

Pra fetuset madje jane duke mesuar

about the particular language that's spoken

per nje gjuhe te vecante qe flitet

in the world that they'll be born into.

ne boten qe ata do te lindin.

A study published last year

Nje studim i publikuar vitin e shkuar

found that from birth, from the moment of birth,

zbuloi se nga lindja, nga momenti i lindjes,

babies cry in the accent

femijet qajne ne theks

of their mother's native language.

te gjuhes ametare te nenes se tyre.

French babies cry on a rising note

Bebet franceze qajne ne nje note ngritese

while German babies end on a falling note,

ndersa bebet Gjermane me nje note te poshte,

imitating the melodic contours

duke imituar vijat melodike

of those languages.

te ketyre gjuheve.

Now why would this kind of fetal learning

Tani pse ky lloj i te mesuarit te fetusit

be useful?

te jete i dobishem?

It may have evolved to aid the baby's survival.

Mund te kete evoluar per te ndihmuar mbijetesen e bebes.

From the moment of birth,

Nga momenti i lindjes,

the baby responds most to the voice

femiju u pergjigjet shumices se zerave

of the person who is most likely to care for it --

personi qe eshte me i pelqyeshem per t'u kujdesur--

its mother.

eshte nena.

It even makes its cries

Kjo madje ben te qaren e saj

sound like the mother's language,

te duket sikur gjuha e nenes,

which may further endear the baby to the mother,

qe mund te hyje me shume ne zemer femija nenes,

and which may give the baby a head start

dhe qe mund ti jape bebes nje avantazh

in the critical task

ne detyren kritike

of learning how to understand and speak

ne te mesuarit si te kuptoje dhe flase

its native language.

gjuhen ametare.

But it's not just sounds

Por nuk eshte vetem melodia

that fetuses are learning about in utero.

qe fetuset jane duke mesuar ne miter.

It's also tastes and smells.

Gjithashtu shijet dhe ererat.

By seven months of gestation,

Ne muajin e shtate te shtatezanise,

the fetus' taste buds are fully developed,

shijet e fetusit jane plotesisht te zhvilluara,

and its olfactory receptors, which allow it to smell,

dhe receptoret e nuhatjes, te cilet e lejojne ate nuhatje

are functioning.

jane funksionale.

The flavors of the food a pregnant woman eats

Aroma e ushqimit qe ha nje grua shtatezene

find their way into the amniotic fluid,

gjejne rrugen e tyre te lengu amniotik,

which is continuously swallowed

i cili vazhdimisht gelltitet

by the fetus.

nga fetusi.

Babies seem to remember and prefer these tastes

Femijet duket qe kujtojne dhe preferojne keto shije

once they're out in the world.

posa te dalin ne bote.

In one experiment, a group of pregnant women

Ne nje eksperiment, nje grup i grave shtatezena

was asked to drink a lot of carrot juice

i ishte kerkuar te pinte shume leng te karrotave

during their third trimester of pregnancy,

gjate tre mujorit te trete te shtatezanise,

while another group of pregnant women

gjersa nje grupit tjter te grave shtatezena

drank only water.

pine vetem uje.

Six months later, the women's infants

Gjashte muaj me vone, femijet e grave

were offered cereal mixed with carrot juice,

iu dhane drithera te perziera me leng karrote,

and their facial expressions were observed while they ate it.

dhe shprehjet e fytyres u observuan ndersa ata hanin ate.

The offspring of the carrot juice drinking women

Pasardhesit e grave te cilet kane pire leng karrotash

ate more carrot-flavored cereal,

kane ngrene me shume drithera te perziera me karrota

and from the looks of it,

dhe nga cka pame,

they seemed to enjoy it more.

ata u duken qe po e shijonin me shume.

A sort of French version of this experiment

Nje version i njejte Francez i ketij eksperimenti

was carried out in Dijon, France

eshte bere ne Dijon, France

where researchers found

ku hulumtuesit zbuluan

that mothers who consumed food and drink

se qe bebet e nenave qe konsumuan ushqim dhe lengje

flavored with licorice-flavored anise during pregnancy

te aromamtizuar me shije anise gjate shtatezanise

showed a preference for anise

shfaqen nje preference per anise

on their first day of life,

ne diten e pare te jetes,

and again, when they were tested later,

dhe prap, kur ishin provuar me vone,

on their fourth day of life.

ne diten e katert te jetes.

Babies whose mothers did not eat anise during pregnancy

Femijet nenat e te cileve nuk kane ngrene anise gjate shtatezanise

showed a reaction that translated roughly as "yuck."

treguan nje reagim qe te ngjashem me "i shpifur".

What this means

Cka do te thote kjo

is that fetuses are effectively being taught by their mothers

eshte se fetuset jane duke mesuar nga nenat e tyre ne menyre efektive

about what is safe and good to eat.

per cka eshte e sigurt dhe e mire te hame.

Fetuses are also being taught

Fetuset gjitahshtu mesohen

about the particular culture that they'll be joining

rreth kultures se vecante qe ata do t'i bashkangjiten

through one of culture's most powerful expressions,

pergjate njeres nder shprehjeve me te fuqishme te kultures,

which is food.

qe eshte ushqimi.

They're being introduced to the characteristic flavors and spices

Ata po njihen me karakteristikat e shijeve dhe erezave

of their culture's cuisine

te kuzhines se kultures se tyre

even before birth.

para se te lindin.

Now it turns out that fetuses are learning even bigger lessons.

Tani duket se fetuset jane duke mesuar madje mesime me te medha.

But before I get to that,

Por para se t'a beje ate,

I want to address something that you may be wondering about.

Dua te adresoj dicka qe ju ndoshta jeni duke menduar.

The notion of fetal learning

Nocioni i te mesuarit te fetusit

may conjure up for you attempts to enrich the fetus --

mund te sjell ne mendje perpjekjet tuaja per t'a pasuruar fetusin

like playing Mozart through headphones

sikurse duke e luajtur Moxartin permes kufjeve

placed on a pregnant belly.

te vendosura ne nje bark shtatezane

But actually, the nine-month-long process

Por faktikisht, procesi nente mujoresh

of molding and shaping that goes on in the womb

i formimit qe ndodh ne barkun e nenes

is a lot more visceral and consequential than that.

eshte shume me i thelle dhe i rendesishem sesa ajo.

Much of what a pregnant woman encounters in her daily life --

Me shume se cka nje grua shtatezene ballafaqohet ne jeten e saj te perditshme --

the air she breathes,

ajrin qe ajo thith,

the food and drink she consumes,

ushqimin dhe pijet qe ajo konsumon,

the chemicals she's exposed to,

kimikateve te cilave i'u ekspozohet,

even the emotions she feels --

madje edhe emocioneve qe ajo ndjen--

are shared in some fashion with her fetus.

jane te perbashekta me fetusin e saj.

They make up a mix of influences

Ato perbejne nje perzierje te ndikimeve

as individual and idiosyncratic

si individ dhe idiosentrik

as the woman herself.

si grua nje vetvete.

The fetus incorporates these offerings

Fetusi perfshin keto oferta

into its own body,

ne trupin e tij,

makes them part of its flesh and blood.

i ben ato pjese e te mishit dhe gjakut te tij.

And often it does something more.

Dhe shpesh bene dicka me shume.

It treats these maternal contributions

I trajton keto kontribute amesore

as information,

si informacion,

as what I like to call biological postcards

sic une kam deshire t'a quaj si nje kartoline biologjike

from the world outside.

nga bota e jashtme.

So what a fetus is learning about in utero

Pra, cka eshte duke mesuar fetusi ne uteron

is not Mozart's "Magic Flute"

nuk eshte "Magic Flute" e Mozartit

but answers to questions much more critical to its survival.

por pergjigjet per pytjet shume me shume kritike per mbijetesen e saj.

Will it be born into a world of abundance

A do te lind ne nje bote te begatise

or scarcity?

ose te pamjaftushmerise?

Will it be safe and protected,

A do te jete sigurt dhe e mbrojtur,

or will it face constant dangers and threats?

ose a do te perballoj rreziqet dhe kercenimet e vazhdushme?

Will it live a long, fruitful life

A do te jetoj nje jete te gjate dhe te frytshme

or a short, harried one?

ose nje te shkurter?

The pregnant woman's diet and stress level in particular

Dieta e gruas shtatezene dhe niveli i stresit ne vecanti

provide important clues to prevailing conditions

sigurojne te dhena ne rendeishme per kushtet qe mbizoterojne

like a finger lifted to the wind.

si nje gisht i ngritur ne ere.

The resulting tuning and tweaking

Rezultatet e akorduara dhe harmonizuara

of a fetus' brain and other organs

ne trurin e fetusit dhe organeve tjera

are part of what give us humans

jane pjese e asaj qe na jep ne qenieve njerezore

our enormous flexibility,

fleksibilitetin tone te madh,

our ability to thrive

aftesine tone per te lulezuar

in a huge variety of environments,

ne nje shumellojshmeri te madhe te mjedisit,

from the country to the city,

nga fshati ne qytet,

from the tundra to the desert.

nga tundra ne shkretire.

To conclude, I want to tell you two stories

Per ta mbyllur, une do te ju tregoj dy histori

about how mothers teach their children about the world

se si nenat i mesojne femijet e tyre per boten

even before they're born.

madje para se ata te lindin.

In the autumn of 1944,

Ne vjeshten e 1944,

the darkest days of World War II,

ditet e zymta te Luftes se Dyte Boterore,

German troops blockaded Western Holland,

trupat Gjermane bllokuan Hollanden Perendimore,

turning away all shipments of food.

duke i kthyer te gjitha dergesat e ushqimit

The opening of the Nazi's siege

Fillimi i rrethimit Nazist

was followed by one of the harshest winters in decades --

u pasua nga nje nder dimrat me te ftohte ne dekada--

so cold the water in the canals froze solid.

aq ftohte saqe ujerat ne kanale u ngrine u bene te ngurta.

Soon food became scarce,

Se shpejti ushqimi u be i pamjatushem,

with many Dutch surviving on just 500 calories a day --

shume hollandeze mbijetonin me 500 kalori ne dite--

a quarter of what they consumed before the war.

cereku i asaj qe konsumonin para luftes.

As weeks of deprivation stretched into months,

Pasiqe javet e privimit u zgjaten ne muaj,

some resorted to eating tulip bulbs.

disa arriten te hanin qepujka rrenje tulipanesh.

By the beginning of May,

Nga fillimi i Majit,

the nation's carefully rationed food reserve

rezerva ushqimore e racionuar me kujdes nga shteti

was completely exhausted.

ishte shteruar plotesisht.

The specter of mass starvation loomed.

Spektri i urise masive u ngrit.

And then on May 5th, 1945,

Dhe pastaj ne 5 Maj, 1945

the siege came to a sudden end

rrethimit i erdhi nje fund i pa pritur

when Holland was liberated

kur Holanda u lirua

by the Allies.

nga Aleatet

The "Hunger Winter," as it came to be known,

"Dimri i Urise" sic u njoh,

killed some 10,000 people

vrau 10.000 njerez

and weakened thousands more.

dhe dobesoi me mijera tjere.

But there was another population that was affected --

Por ishte nje popull tjeter qe sihte prekur--

the 40,000 fetuses

40.000 fetuset

in utero during the siege.

ne utero gjate rrethimit.

Some of the effects of malnutrition during pregnancy

Disa nga efektet e kequshqyerjes gjate shtatezanise

were immediately apparent

u paraqiten menjehere

in higher rates of stillbirths,

ne shkalle te larte tek te posalindurit,

birth defects, low birth weights

defekte ne lindje, lindje me peshe te ulte

and infant mortality.

dhe vdekshmeria e femijeve.

But others wouldn't be discovered for many years.

Por te tjeret nuk do te zbuloheshin per vite te tera.

Decades after the "Hunger Winter,"

Dekada pas " Dimrit te urise",

researchers documented

hulumtuesit dokumentuan

that people whose mothers were pregnant during the siege

se njerezit nenat e te cileve ishin shtatezena pergjate rrethimit

have more obesity, more diabetes

kane me shume obesitet, me shume diabet

and more heart disease in later life

dhe me shume semundje ne zemer ne jeten e me vonshme

than individuals who were gestated under normal conditions.

sesa individet te cilet ishin zhvilluar nen kushte normale.

These individuals' prenatal experience of starvation

Eksperincat e indvideve para lindjes te urise

seems to have changed their bodies

duket se u'a kane ndryshuar trupat

in myriad ways.

ne menyra te shumta.

They have higher blood pressure,

Ato kane tension te larte te gjakut,

poorer cholesterol profiles

profile te varfera te kolesterolit

and reduced glucose tolerance --

dhe tolerance glukoze te reduktuar--

a precursor of diabetes.

nje shenje paralajmeruese te diabeteve.

Why would undernutrition in the womb

Pse kequshqyerja ne bark do te

result in disease later?

rezultonte ne nje semundje me vone?

One explanation

Nje shpjegim

is that fetuses are making the best of a bad situation.

eshte sepse fetuset jane duke bere me te miren e nje situate te keqe.

When food is scarce,

Kur eshte ushqimi i paket

they divert nutrients towards the really critical organ, the brain,

ata shmangin lendet ushqyese ne drejtim te organit vertete kirtik, trurit,

and away from other organs

dhe larg organeve tjera

like the heart and liver.

sikurse zemra dhe mushkerit

This keeps the fetus alive in the short-term,

Kjo e mban te gjalle fetusin ne nje periudhe te shkurter,

but the bill comes due later on in life

por fatura vjen me vone ne jete

when those other organs, deprived early on,

kur keto organe tjera, privohen me heret,

become more susceptible to disease.

behen me te prekshem ndaj semundjeve.

But that may not be all that's going on.

Por kjo nuk eshte e vetmja qe po ndodh.

It seems that fetuses are taking cues

Duket sikur fetuset jane duke marr sygjerime

from the intrauterine environment

nga mjedisi intraueterine

and tailoring their physiology accordingly.

dhe duke u'a analizuar psikologjine e tyre ne perputhje me rrethanat.

They're preparing themselves

Ata jane duke i pergatitur veten e tyre

for the kind of world they will encounter

per llojin e botes qe ata do te takohen

on the other side of the womb.

ne pjesen tjter te barkut.

The fetus adjusts its metabolism

Fetusi e rregulon metabolzmin e vet

and other physiological processes

ne procese tjere psikologjike

in anticipation of the environment that awaits it.

ne pritje te mjedisit qe i pret ata.

And the basis of the fetus' prediction

Dhe ne baze te parashikimit te fetusit

is what its mother eats.

eshte se cka han nena e tyre.

The meals a pregnant woman consumes

Ushqimet qe konsumon nje grua shtatezene

constitute a kind of story,

perbejne nje lloj historie,

a fairy tale of abundance

nje perralle e begatise

or a grim chronicle of deprivation.

apo nje kronike e zymte e privimit.

This story imparts information

Historia jep informacione

that the fetus uses

se fetusi perdor

to organize its body and its systems --

per te organizuar trupin dhe sistemet e tij--

an adaptation to prevailing circumstances

nje pershtatje te rrethanve mbizoteruese

that facilitates its future survival.

qe lehteson mbijetesen e se ardhmes

Faced with severely limited resources,

Te ballafaquar me burime shume te kufizuara,

a smaller-sized child with reduced energy requirements

nje femije me madhesi me te vogel me reduktimin e kerkesave te energjise

will, in fact, have a better chance

ne fakt do te kene nje shans

of living to adulthood.

per te jetuar ne moshen madhore.

The real trouble comes

Problemi i vertete vjen

when pregnant women are, in a sense, unreliable narrators,

kur grate shtatezena ne nje fare menyre nuk jane treguese te mira

when fetuses are led

kur fetuset jane te prirura

to expect a world of scarcity

qe te presin nje bote te mungeses

and are born instead into a world of plenty.

dhe ne vend te saj lindin ne nje bote te shumices.

This is what happened to the children of the Dutch "Hunger Winter."

Kjo eshte cka u ka ndodhur femijeve hollandez te " Dimrit te urise".

And their higher rates of obesity,

Dhe shkalla me larte e trashjes,

diabetes and heart disease

diabetit dhe semundjeve te zemres

are the result.

jane rezultati.

Bodies that were built to hang onto every calorie

Trupat qe ishin ndertuar per te rezervuar cdo kalori

found themselves swimming in the superfluous calories

e gjeten veten e tyre duke lundruar ne kalori te teperta

of the post-war Western diet.

ne dieten perendimore te pas luftes.

The world they had learned about while in utero

Bota qe u ishte mesuar ndersa ne utero

was not the same

nuk ishte e njejta

as the world into which they were born.

me boten ne te cilen ata kishin lindur.

Here's another story.

Ja edhe nje histori tjeter.

At 8:46 a.m. on September 11th, 2001,

Ne ora 8: 46 me 11 Shtator, 2001,

there were tens of thousands of people

kishte dhjetra mijera njerez

in the vicinity of the World Trade Center

ne afersi te Qendres se Tregetise Boterore

in New York --

ne New York--

commuters spilling off trains,

banoret e periferise duke vrapuar tek trenat,

waitresses setting tables for the morning rush,

kamariere duke rregulluar tavolinat per mengjesin e nxituar

brokers already working the phones on Wall Street.

agjentet me telefona ne Wall Street.

1,700 of these people were pregnant women.

1,700 e ketyre njerezve ishin gra shtatezena.

When the planes struck and the towers collapsed,

Kur aeroplani goditi dhe kullat u shemben,

many of these women experienced the same horrors

shume prej ketyre grave provuan horroret e njejta

inflicted on other survivors of the disaster --

me te mbijetuarit e tjere te fatkeqesise--

the overwhelming chaos and confusion,

kaos derrmues dhe konfuzion,

the rolling clouds

rete rokullisese

of potentially toxic dust and debris,

te pluhurit te mundshem helmues dhe copave,

the heart-pounding fear for their lives.

rrahja e zemres per jeten e tyre.

About a year after 9/11,

Rreth nje viti pas 9/11,

researchers examined a group of women

hulumtuesit ekzaminuan nje grup grash

who were pregnant

qe ishin shtatezene

when they were exposed to the World Trade Center attack.

kur ato ishin ekspozuar sulmit te Qendres se Tregtise Boterore.

In the babies of those women

Ne foshnjet e ketyre grave

who developed post-traumatic stress syndrome, or PTSD,

te cilat zhvilluan sindromin e stresit pas-traumatik, ose PTSD,

following their ordeal,

pas vujatjeve te tyre,

researchers discovered a biological marker

hulumtuesit zbuluan nje shenje biologjike

of susceptibility to PTSD --

te ndjeshmerise tek PTSD--

an effect that was most pronounced

nje efekt qe me se shumti ishte shfaqur

in infants whose mothers experienced the catastrophe

tek foshnjet nenat e te cileve provuan katastrofen

in their third trimester.

ne tremujorin e trete.

In other words,

Me fjale te tjera,

the mothers with post-traumatic stress syndrome

nenat me sindromin e stresit pas-traumatik

had passed on a vulnerability to the condition

kaluan ne nje dobesi ne keto kushte

to their children while they were still in utero.

tek femjet e tyre ndersa ata ishin akoma ne utero.

Now consider this:

Tani konsideroni kete:

post-traumatic stress syndrome

sindromin e stresit post-traumatik

appears to be a reaction to stress gone very wrong,

duket te jete nje reaksion i stresit qe eshte perkeqsuar

causing its victims tremendous unnecessary suffering.

duke i'u shkaktuar viktimave vuajtje te pa nevojshme.

But there's another way of thinking about PTSD.

Por eshte nje menyre tjeter e te menduarit per PTSD.

What looks like pathology to us

Cka duket si patologji per ne

may actually be a useful adaptation

faktikisht mund te jete nje adaptim i dobishem

in some circumstances.

ne disa rrethana.

In a particularly dangerous environment,

Ne nje mjedis vecanerisht te rrezikshem,

the characteristic manifestations of PTSD --

manifestimet karakteristike te PTSD--

a hyper-awareness of one's surroundings,

nje mbi-vetdije e mjedisit te dikujt,

a quick-trigger response to danger --

nje reagim i shpejte ndaj rrezikut--

could save someone's life.

mund te shpetoje jeten e dikujt.

The notion that the prenatal transmission of PTSD risk is adaptive

Nocioni se transmetimit paralindjes i rrezikut PTSD eshte i adaptushem

is still speculative,

akoma eshte spekulativ,

but I find it rather poignant.

por une e gjej si teper prekes.

It would mean that, even before birth,

Kjo do te thote se, edhe para lindjes,

mothers are warning their children

nenat jane duke i paralajmeruar femijet e tyre

that it's a wild world out there,

se eshte nje bote e eger aty,

telling them, "Be careful."

duke i'u thene, "Keni Kujdes."

Let me be clear.

Me lejoni te jem me qarte.

Fetal origins research is not about blaming women

Hulumtimi i origjines se fetusit nuk eshte per te fajesuar grate

for what happens during pregnancy.

se cka ndodh gjate shtatezanise.

It's about discovering how best to promote

Eshte rreth te zbuluarit se si te promovohet me se miri

the health and well-being of the next generation.

shendeti dhe mireqenia e gjenerates se ardhshme.

That important effort must include a focus

Ajo perpjekje e rendesishme duhet te perfshije nje fokus

on what fetuses learn

ne ate se cka mesojne fetuset

during the nine months they spend in the womb.

gjate nente muajve qe ata kalojne ne bark.

Learning is one of life's most essential activities,

Mesimi eshte njeri prej aktiviteteve me thelbesore te jetes,

and it begins much earlier

dhe fillon shume me heret

than we ever imagined.

sesa ne e kemi imagjinuar.

Thank you.

Faleminderit.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)