Child's brain development before birth...2

Child's brain development before birth...2








My memories
Child's brain development before birth...2
Posted in 2015

First trimester: Baby starts moving

A mere 16 days after conception, your fetus's neural plate forms (think of it as the foundation of your baby's brain and spinal cord). It grows longer and folds onto itself, until that fold morphs into a groove, and that groove turns into a tube — the neural tube.

Once the neural tube closes, at around week 6 or week 7 of pregnancy, it curves and bulges into three sections, commonly known as the forebrain, midbrain and hind brain. Just to the rear of the hindbrain sits the part that will soon turn into your baby's spinal cord. Soon, these areas bubble into those five different regions of the brain that we're most familiar with: the cerebrum, cerebellum, brain stem, pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. Of course, all of these fetal brain areas need more time to be fully up and running!

At the same time, special neural cells form and move throughout the embryo to form the very beginnings of nerves. Your baby's nervous system is made up of millions upon millions of neurons; each of these microscopic cells have itty-bitty branches coming off of them so that they can connect and communicate with each other. With this comes baby's first synapses, which essentially means baby's neurons can communicate and create early fetal movements...like curling into the fetal position.

Other movements follow quickly, with your fetus wiggling his developing limbs at around 8 weeks. By the end of the first trimester, your baby-to-be has garnered quite a repertoire of motion, though you won't be able to feel it quite yet. And at about the same time as baby first wiggles his limbs, he begins to develop the sense of touch.