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Exploring Prenatal Brain Development
Prenatal development is the process where the soon to be infant is developing in the
mothers womb. This process of development occurs from the time of conception up until the
birth of the infant which is typically 40 weeks. In particular the brain development of the fetus
accelerates at 28 weeks. In my first article the process of prenatal is broken down into the three
stages of prenatal development.
In the first article I have selected is entitled, Prenatal Brain Development, the three
stages of prenatal development are listed with the type of development that is occurring in the
womb at that particular time. The first stage of development is the germinal stage which occurs
the 2 weeks after conception. The stage where organ systems develop is known as the embryonic
stage which ends at the eighth week of pregnancy. During this stage where the embryo is now
referred to as a fetus. When looking at brain development the last stage, fetal stage, is where the
brain develops quickly and doubles in size. According to Boundless, The cerebral cortex grows
larger, and the fetus spends more hours awake. The fetus moves with more coordination,
indicating more neural connections within the brain. The nervous system is controlling more
bodily functions, and even personality begins to emerge in utero. (Boundless 2016). During this
time the fetus is developing at a rapid pace and the fetus is developing coordination and aspects
of its personality. By the time the fetus reaches week 28 the brain will have doubled from the
size it was at 16 weeks. At this time the thalamic brain connections formthe fetus can
distinguish between voices, and can remember songs and certain sounds after birthbecomes
sensitive to light as well (Boundless 2016). After the thirtieth week brain development
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Exploring Prenatal Brain Development
continues at a much slower rate. This article provides the breakdown of what is occurring inside
the womb during the three stages of development.
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Exploring Prenatal Brain Development
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Exploring Prenatal Brain Development
psychology-textbook/human-development-14/prenatal-development-71/prenatal-braindevelopment-273-12808/
Developing Human Brain. How to Improve Baby Brain Development during Pregnancy. 2016.
Retrieved 24 Jul. 2016 from http://www.developinghumanbrain.org/baby-brain-developmentduring-pregnancy/