LONDON -- Babies remember sounds they heard in the womb up to three months before their birth, AFP quoted British psychologists as saying on Tuesday.

"We know that the fetus in the womb is able to hear fully only 20 weeks after conception," said the Head of the research team, Dr. Alexandra Lamont. "Now we have discovered that babies can remember and prefer music that they heard before they were born over 12 months later."

The study, by the Music Research Group at the University of Leicesters School of Psychology, involved a small group of mothers playing a single piece of music to their babies for the last three months before birth.

Each baby heard a different piece of music chosen by their mother, ranging from classical to pop and reggae.

The babies were not exposed to any music between birth and their first birthdays, when they heard the prenatal music and other music that was matched for style, key, pace and loudness, said the study, which was shown on a BBC television documentary program on Wednesday.

Eleven of the babies were tested and showed a significant preference for the pieces of music they heard in the womb compared with very similar pieces they had not heard before.

A control group of 11 babies tested with the same pieces of music showed no preference for a particular piece.

The babies preference during the test is shown by the amount of time they spend looking toward the source of the music.

Their attention is attracted by flashing disco lights, and the music then plays from a loudspeaker next to the light. When they stop looking in a particular direction, the music stops. The babies quickly learn the association between the direction they look and the amount of music they get to hear.

"This small-scale study suggests that deliberate and extended prenatal exposure to music sets up a very long-term memory trace for a particular piece of music, and that this is recognized and preferred over 12 months later," said Lamont.

She said the style of the music is not important. But the children showed a marked preference for faster music, such as certain pieces of pop music or the start of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.