BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IN UTERO OBSERVED
New investigation
methods using functional magnetic resonance tomography (fMRT) offer insights
into fetal brain development. These "in vivo" observations will
uncover different stages of the brain's development. A research group at the
Computational Imaging Research Lab from the MedUni Vienna has observed that
parts of the brain that are later responsible for sight are already active at
this stage.
To obtain insights
into the development of the human brain in utero, the study group observed 32
fetuses from the 21st to 38th week of pregnancy (an average pregnancy lasts 40
weeks). The architecture of the brain is developed particularly during the middle
trimester of pregnancy. Using functional magnetic resonance tomography, it was
possible to measure activity and thereby gain information about the most
important cortical and sub-cortical structures of the developing brain. During
the period of the 26th to 29th week of pregnancy in particular, short-range
neuronal connections developed especially actively, while in contrast to this,
long-range nerve connections exhibited more linear growth during pregnancy.
"It became apparent that the areas responsible for sensory perception are
developed first and only then, around four weeks later, do the areas
responsible for more complex, cognitive skills come along," says first
author Andras Jakab from the Computational Imaging Research Lab at the MedUni
Vienna, explaining the results.
In another study, the
study group led by Veronika Schöpf and Georg Langs was able to demonstrate for
a correlation of eye movement and areas of the brain which are later
responsible to process vision as early as the 30th to the 36th weeks of
pregnancy. The fact that newborn babies first have to learn to
"process" visual stimuli after birth is already known. It has now
been possible to demonstrate that this important development starts even before
birth. The research group investigated the relationship between eye movements
and brain activity. Even at this stage of development, motor visual movement is
linked to the areas in the visual cortex of the brain responsible for
processing optical signals. "The relationship between eye movement and the
responsible areas of the brain has therefore been demonstrated for the first
time in utero," explains first author Veronika Schöpf.
A more detailed study
at the Computational Imaging Research Lab and the Department of Neuroradiology
and Musculoskeletal Radiology at the MedUni Vienna is currently working on a
reference model for healthy brain development in order to be able to detect
malformations and pathologies in fetuses.
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