[A case with congenital underdevelopment of the middle part of the face in a newborn]

Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, is the inability to recognize faces. In severe cases, individuals with prosopagnosia may not recognize close family members, including parents and spouses, by their faces. For instance, someone with prosopagnosia might walk past their child in a crowd, only realizing their mistake upon noticing their child's distinctive backpack or favorite jacket. Prosopagnosia specifically impairs facial recognition, while the recognition of other objects or...

Neurulation is the embryological process which forms the precursors of the central nervous system and occurs after gastrulation has established the three primary cell layers of the embryo: ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. In humans, the majority of this system is formed via primary neurulation, in which the central portion of the ectoderm—originally appearing as a flat sheet of cells—folds upwards and inwards, sealing off to form a hollow neural tube. As development proceeds, the anterior...

Physical development during the prenatal period and early childhood follows two major directional principles: cephalocaudal and proximodistal development. These general patterns happen simultaneously and help explain changes in body proportions and the gradual development of motor skills.Cephalocaudal DevelopmentThe cephalocaudal principle describes development from the head downward toward the lower body. During prenatal development, the head and brain structures develop rapidly before many...

The human skull is composed of several bones that come together to protect the brain and support the structures of the face. The junctions where these bones meet are called sutures.
Sutures are immobile joints between adjacent bones of the skull. The narrow gap between the bones is filled with dense, fibrous connective tissue that unites the bones. The long sutures located between the skull bones are not straight but instead follow irregular, tightly twisting paths. These twisting lines tightly...

Intramembranous ossification is one of the two processes involved in the development of bones within an embryo. The flat bones of the face, most of the cranial bones, and the clavicles are formed via this process. During intramembranous ossification, the bones develop directly from sheets of undifferentiated mesenchymal connective tissue.
The process begins when mesenchymal cells in the embryonic skeleton gather together and differentiate into osteogenic cells, which then develop into...

At birth, vision is the least developed of the major senses because the visual system is still structurally and neurologically immature. The retinas, optic nerves, and visual regions of the brain continue to mature after birth. As a result, newborns have limited visual acuity, or sharpness and clarity of vision, and respond best to objects viewed at close range, roughly 8 to 12 inches away.Rapid Visual DevelopmentVision improves rapidly during the first few months as infants observe and...