An optimal early life environment is crucial for ensuring ideal neurodevelopmental
outcomes. Brain development consists of a finely tuned series of spatially and temporally …

Growing evidence supports an important role for the intrauterine environment in shaping
fetal development and subsequent child health and disease risk. The fetal brain is …

Heightened maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with atypical brain development
and an elevated risk for psychopathology in offspring. Supportive environments during early …

Editor's note: During gestation, the fetal brain develops dramatically as structures and
connections form, providing the foundation for all future development. The fetal environment …

A rapidly accumulating literature indicates that the prenatal period must be taken into
account if we are to understand development of the central nervous system (CNS) across …

Chronic stress has been increasingly linked with aberrations in children's behavioral,
cognitive, and social development, yet the effect of chronic physiological stress on neural …

Abnormal development of the brain during fetal life is now thought to contribute to the
aetiology of many functional and behavioural disorders that manifest throughout life. Many …

Cortical development is a complex amalgamation of proliferation, migration, differentiation,
and circuit formation. These processes follow defined timescales and are controlled by a …

The fetal brain is highly plastic and is not only receptive to but requires cues from its
environment to develop properly. Based on an understanding of evolutionary biology …

The concept of the developmental origins of health and disease via prenatal programming
has informed many etiologic models of health and development. Extensive experimental …