Fetal and Neonatal Brain Development

摘要

The effect of maternal psychiatric medication on fetal health during pregnancy is a question that lacks a precise answer or even much relevant data as yet. While clinicians discourage the use of CNS-active medications during pregnancy, there are situations where this is not possible. An illustration of this kind of clinical situation is detailed in this month's Clinical Case Conference by Yae-ger and colleagues (p. 2064). Experiments in animals looking at the effect of maternal medications on fetal CNS are only now beginning. However, and more important, the examination of this question in human neonates has already begun. Structural brain changes associated with psychosis and other major psychiatric illnesses are thought to develop early, during fetal or neonatal life. Therefore, ways of assessing structural parameters of early brain development might contribute to assessing mental health in the fetus and neonate. We have previously shown that three-dimensional ultrasound can provide reliable measuresof lateral ventricular volume comparable to MRI. However, structural images of neonates, captured without sedation, are more informative and illustrate not only the structural characteristics of the brain, but also their changes during early development (top row of MRI images).