Fetal Programming of Health and Development

The fetal programming and developmental origins of disease models suggest that experiences that occur before birth can have consequences for physical and mental health that persist across the lifespan. Development is more rapid during the prenatal period as compared to any other stage of life. This introductory article considers evidence that fetal exposure to stress and stress hormones influences regulation of stress and emotion, cognitive functioning, and brain development during infancy and childhood. The authors consider implications for intervention and future research directions. T he transformation from a single-celled zygote to a human newborn is a dramatic process. During this 9-month period development proceeds at an incredible pace, particularly in the brain, that is unmatched at any stage of the lifespan. The astounding pace of human brain development renders it susceptible to a variety of influences. Brain development begins early in gestation and follows a carefully orchestrated series of events. During gestation neurogenesis (the birth of new neurons) proceeds at a rate of 250,000 cells per minute (Cowan, 1979). These new cells begin to communicate, and during the third trimester the rate of synapse formation (connections between neurons) accelerates to a rate of 40,000 synapses per minute (Bourgeois, Goldman-Rakic, & Rakic, 1994). The fetal period is a time of enormous neurological changes and thus experiences during this period can dramatically influence development.