The Straight Dope: Does prenatal trauma affect development?

[Send questions for Cecil Adams: cecil@straightdope.com](mailto:cecil@straightdope.com) FOLLOW CECIL ADAMS ON [TWITTER]( AND [FACEBOOK](! [dope_140822_prenatalstress.gif] THREADSPOTTING: THE BEST OF THE STRAIGHT DOPE MESSAGE BOARD — 11/22/2019 When you wish upon a star to be very, very bad. [Click here]( for more. STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #1 — 08/22/2014 Dear Cecil: Early in my mother's pregnancy, she became aware her father had a terminal illness. He died two months before I was born. I'm almost 70 years old but have always wondered: What do we know, if anything, about the long-term impact of a traumatic event on human development? — LoDub Cecil replies: First let’s define trauma. Back in the days when medical insight consisted largely of old wives’ tales, it was regularly claimed a pregnant woman shouldn’t spend too much time around fish lest her child be born scaly. Cut to the present … [Click here]( for more. STRAIGHT DOPE STAFF REPORT — 10/07/2008 Dear Straight Dope: I love Fox's 24. A common plot device in the show is for the bad guy to demand and get a letter of immunity from prosecution signed by the President in exchange for some vital piece of information. The immunity always seems to hinge on the information being true and resulting in the capture of some villain or the recovery of the explosive du jour. Is any of this true? Can one demand immunity from prosecution signed by the President, and, more importantly, can one expect to get it? — Gerry S., Scotch Plains, NJ SDStaff Gfactor replies: Let’s start with the basics. You can get several kinds of immunity. The broadest is transactional immunity. A witness with transactional immunity is immune from criminal prosecution for all conduct (transactions) discussed in the testimony. Use immunity is the narrowest. A witness with use immunity can’t have her testimony used against her but may be prosecuted for the conduct she testifies about based on independent evidence. In the middle is “use and derived use” immunity, which means neither the testimony nor information derived from the testimony can be used against the witness in a criminal prosecution. [Click here]( for more. STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #2 — 04/15/1994 Dear Cecil: Queen Victoria once remarked, with British understatement, "We are not amused." What was she not amused by? — Mark Terry, Kailua, Hawaii Cecil replies: Obviously it wasn’t us; we didn’t arrive on the scene till 72 years after she left. Too bad. If she weren’t dead, we woulda slayed her. [Click here]( for more. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [View this message as a webpage](. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. To advertise on The Straight Dope, contact Rich Hummel at rhummel@suntimes.com [Privacy Policy/Terms of Use]( • [Unsubscribe]( © 2019 Straight Dope, LLC. 30 N Racine Ave. Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60607