This study established the emergence of stable individual differences in neurobehavioral functioning prior to birth and examined their relation to subsequent infant temperament. Fetal heart rate and movement were recorded longitudinally for 31 fetuses at 6 gestational ages beginning at 20 weeks' gestation. Maternally reported temperament data were collected at 3 and 6 months. Moderate stability...

‘Observation of fetal behavior reflects the functioning of the central nervous system, and behavioral assessment of the fetus enables the function of the brain to be examined’.1 The introduction of four-dimensional (4D) sonography techniques would facilitate fetal behavioral assessment in three dimensions in real time during pregnancy. We describe the latest 4D sonographic studies on fetal neur...

OBJECTIVE This was a prospective study of the effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on newborn neurobehavior, including dose-response relationships using self-report and a bioassay of nicotine exposure. METHODS The sample included 27 nicotine exposed and 29 unexposed full-term newborn infants with no medical problems from comparable social class backgrounds. Mothers were excluded for u...

The human brain is very sensitive to environmental changes affecting its growth and development. Environmental changes influence neonatal behavior after birth, enabling continuity between prenatal and postnatal behavior, but postnatal adaptation could be considered as discontinuity. Thus there is the question of environmental discontinuity between intrauterine conditions characterized by existe...