The sound-object: A hypothesis about prenatal auditory experience and memory

The exploration of the area of possible prenatal experience suggests that the sound of the mother's voice, alternating with silence, may give the child a proto-experience of both presence and absence. This experience may, on the one hand, give rise to primitive defensive reactions and, on the other, become the basis for the constitution of a prenatal proto-object with sound qualities called tentatively ‘sound-object’. The hypothesis is made that this object could be connected with the preconception of the breast, and could also be considered as a precursor of the postnatal maternal inner object. Two dreams of adults and clinical material of a child patient are examined with special attention to sound aspects and their possible connection with prenatal experiences. The importance of integrating sound aspects, especially in analytic work with borderline and psychotic patients, is discussed.