When does a fetus have brain activity
Some nerve cells develop a sheath of insulating material called myelin that speeds up signaling between nerves. Your baby can also squint their eye muscles and make sucking movements with their mouth.īy about 28 weeks, nerves connect with their designated organs so your baby's senses of hearing, smell, and taste can begin to function. For example, your baby's fingers can open and close, and their toes can curl. At 12 weeks, the nerves start sending out simple signals that cause reflex behaviors. This crest, along with the brain and spinal cord, give rise to the millions of nerves that branch out all over the body.įrom 8 weeks of pregnancy on, these nerves are making connections not only with each other, but also with muscles and other tissues as well as organs, like the eyes and ears.
Located along the edges of the developing neural tube is the neural crest. The hindbrain develops into the cerebellum, which manages balance and coordination, as well as the medulla, which is the control center for the body's automatic activities, like blood pressure and heart rate.The midbrain is involved in processing visual and auditory information.The forebrain develops into the cerebrum, which controls certain brain functions, like thinking and problem-solving.Near the bottom is the structure that will eventually become the tailbone.īy the time you're 6 weeks pregnant, the neural tube is completely closed at both ends, and at the top of the tube, the brain consists of three areas: At this point, the ends of the tube remain open, and the brain starts to take shape at the top of the tube. Over the course of this week, the edges of the plate rise and fold toward each other, forming the neural tube that will become your baby's spine and brain. This early ( 5 weeks pregnant), your baby is an embryo that looks like a tiny tadpole, with the neural plate running down the middle from head to tail. The first part develops just three weeks after fertilization as an oval-shaped disk of tissue called the neural plate. A network of nerves branches off the spinal cord, and these nerves send signals to and receive information from various organs. The brain is enclosed within the skull, and the spinal cord is encased within a flexible spinal column made up of 33 separate bones (vertebrae). Together, the brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system. But you may not know that it will continue to grow until your child is in their early 20s! It's probably no surprise that your baby's brain is one of the first major organs to start developing.