S2 W4 Prenatal development Flashcards
Risk factor
more likely
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)
Some FASD: result in neurological but not physiological problems.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
FAS: abnormally small head, underdeveloped brain, eye abnormalities, congenital heart disease, joint anomalies, and malformations of the face.
Causality
causes
Genetic risk factors
account fro 10-15% of congenital defects.
Inherited gene disorder: risk dependent on father’s status (causality). Autosomal gene disorders (e.g., sickle cell disease and cystic fibrosis) (if father is carrier)
Chromosomal abnormalities found 1 in 200 live births (e.g., down’s syndrome and Edward’s syndrome): Account for 50-70% of first trimester miscarriages.
Environemntal risk factor: radiation and Pollution
Radiation can cause serious birth defects and cancer. Air pollution has been linked to autism (Volk et al., 2014). Genetic factors interact with an environmental factor.
Environmental risk factor: Viral infection
COVID-19 (viral infection): leads to increased risk of premature birth, stillbirth and is linked to low birth weight. Evidence of neurodevelopmental impact is limited.
Envrionmental risk factor: Domestic violence
Approx. 6.9% of women experience domestic violence in the UK (Crime survey for England and Wales, 2022). Approx. 7-8% of pregnant women experience violence by their intimate partners, most more than once.
High rate of miscarriage.
Socioeconomic status (SES)
Domestic violence, radiation/pollution are linked to SES.
SES causes a risk to pre/postnatal development both neural and physical.
Maternal malnutrition
related to premature birth and low birth (disproportionately affects people who live in poverty (food poverty). = the risk of spina bifida, a neural tube defect (NTD), can be reduced if vitamins containing folic acid are taken during pregnancy
Maternal risk factors:
Age/Stress and support/Teratogens
Mother’s age
increase in chromosomal abnormalities with higher age. Risk for down syndrome 1/2000 at 20 but 1/200 by 37Y.
Fathers age
The age of father is a factor in social function impairments – extreme of which are autism and schizophrenia. Likely due to DNA methylation abnormalities in sperm of father.
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage Pregnancy: Teenager’s growth is not complete. Pelvic cradle is not ready, leading to complication during birth and pain for the mother.
Psychological stress
associated with premature delivery and low brith weight.
Support: protective factor
The presence of a sympathetic mate and other supportive family members, adequate housing, and steady employment protective factors against maternal psychological stress.
These protective factors appear to enhance the prospects for a healthy baby (Thompson, 1990)
Teratogens
( tera: monster, gen: origin of)
Factors that affect the fetus via the mother:
Smoking/Alcohol/Drugs/Contagious Infections/Env.Contaminant (mercury/radiation)
Environmental factor: secondhand Smoking
Nicotine results in abnormal growth of placenta, increase in rate of spontaneous abortion, stillbirths, and neonatal death. Associated with low birth weight.
Maternal factor: first hadn cigarette smoke
Lung problems, childhood asthma, developmental problems, short attention span, learning problems, behavioural problems.
Alcohol
Alcohol consumption/ leading cause of intellectual disabilities. It can also result in atypical physical development (underdeveloped upper jaw, facial deformities, widely spaced eyes.). No established “safe” limit of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
Alcohol exposure
Damage the corpus callosum, hippocampus, and basal ganglia among other brain areas.
Most serious damage from alcohol is caused in first few weeks of gestation but can vary over the gestational period.
FAS and FASD
Drugs: prescription
Thalidomide (nausea), Valium (tranquilizer), Accutane (acne), streptomycin & tetracycline (antibiotics), artificial hormones.
Drugs: Caffeine
increased rate of spontaneous abortion + low birth weight.
Drug: Marijuana
low birth weight, premature delivery; infants startle more readily, have tremors, and experience sleep cycle problems.
Drug: cocaine
more likely to be stillborn or premature, have low birth weights, have strokes, have birth defects, infants more irritable, uncoordinated, slow learners
Drug: Methadone & Heroin
born addicted; likely to be premature, underweight, vulnerable to respiratory illness, tremors, irritable; infants have difficulty attending, poor motor control.
Contagious infection: Rubella or German measles (viral)
can cause a syndrome of congenital heart disease, cataracts, deafness, and intellectual disability in more than half of all babies born to mothers who suffer from the disease during the first 12 GW.
Contagious infection: Syphilis (bacterial)
can lead to liver damage, impaired hearing and vision, and deformities of the teeth and bones.
Teratogenic principles
The susceptibility of the organism depends on the: Stage of fetal development, Normal variance in susceptibility across the population, Physiological state of the mother.
Teratogenic effects are likely to be specific to a particular organ. The greater the concentration of a teratogenic agent, the greater the risk. Teratogens that adversely affect the developing organism may affect the mother a little or not at all.
Tranatal learning
learning that occurs during the prenatal period but is remembered during the postnatal period. The fetus learns.
Prenatal learning: Habituation/dishabituation paradigm
Used with fetuses and infants to study memory.
Stimulus are presented to the fetus/infant multiple times until their response platous (i.e., they habituate).
The fetus/infant begins to respond to the stimulus again over time (i.e., they dishabituate). Stimulus is presented again. If learning occurred fewer trials will be need for habitation.
