Trajectories of brain and behaviour development in the womb, at birth and through infancy

Staci Meredith Weiss, Ezra Aydin, Sarah Lloyd-Fox, Mark H. Johnson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Development is often seen as beginning from birth, building on the brain, cognitive and behavioral capacities of the young infant. This perspective neglects the activity of the fetus in shaping its own brain and behavioral development inutero. Recent methodological advances have given us a clearer window on the behaviour of the fetus, revealing its capacities within the womb and early influences of the uterine environment. Birth punctuates the pathway of ‘autonomy’ of the child from its mother, as the fetus establishes its independent physiological self-regulation and behavioral self-distinction from its parent. We present evidence from studies that illuminate (1) increasingly autonomous activity and perceptual sensitivity in the fetus, (2) physiological and neurochemical processes that occur around birth which influence future behaviour, (3) the recalibration of newborn motor and sensory systems to adapt to the physical world outside of the womb, and (4) the impact of the prenatal environment on the development of fetal and infant behaviours and neural functions.
From conception, neural systems are highly malleable (Stiles & Jernigan, 2010), enabling a learned fit between early utero activity and subsequent expectable environment (Salo & Humphries, 2020), such that development prepares for and adapts to parturition, the act of giving birth. By advancing birth as a unique and punctate life event that is associated with specific physiological and hormonal triggers, our perspective re-frames existing evidence within development and sensory-specific heterochronous windows of neural plasticity, changing the research direction for developmental science.
Original languageUndefined
JournalNature Human Behaviour
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Jun 2024

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