Title: Fetal Brain Development Stages: When Does a Fetus Develop a Brain?
Headings: Fetal Brain Development Stages: When Does a Fetus Develop a Brain?
Fetal Brain Development Stages: When Does a Fetus Develop a Brain?
When does a fetus develop a nervous system?
When does a fetus develop a brain?
Stages of prenatal brain development
The first trimester
The second trimester
The third trimester
The parts of a baby’s brain
How to support your baby’s brain development
What can harm fetal brain development?

Content: The brain begins with the neural tube, formed in the first month of the embryo’s growth. The neural tube closes around week 6 or 7, at which point the brain separates into three parts: front brain, midbrain, and hindbrain. These three parts will eventually develop into the specialized parts of the brain, and the cerebrum will fold into the left and right halves of the brain. Stages of prenatal brain development
From the time the neural tube closes, around week 7, the brain will grow at a rate of 250,000 neurons per minute for the next 21 weeks. Ultrasounds can reveal the embryo moving as early as 6 weeks after conception (or 8 pregnancy weeks), detecting the electrical impulses that govern movement and indicating that the brain is beginning to function. The first trimester
During the first trimester, the brain develops rapidly and makes up nearly half of the fetus’s weight. For comparison, by the time your baby is born, the brain is only 10 percent of their body weight. In the first trimester, the brain will grow millions of neurons, which connect across synapses to direct movement and growth. The communication between neurons is what helps the fetus learn to move, although during the first trimester you probably won’t feel any movement.