Brain development during fetal life: influences of the intra-uterine environment

The intrauterine environment can significantly affect fetal brain development. Here we review our recent findings using animal models that mimic adverse intrauterine conditions which could exist during human pregnancy. We have focused on effects of both acute and chronic hypoxic and inflammatory insults. Relatively brief periods of hypoxemic compromise can have significant effects on the fetal brain causing neuronal loss and cerebral white matter damage. Subtle brain injury can occur, for example to a particular class of neuron, and this can have a significant effect on the function of a specific system. Chronic mild placental insufficiency can result in long term deficits in neuronal connectivity affecting function postnatally as demonstrated in the auditory and visual systems. Repeated acute exposure to an inflammatory agent results in diffuse subcortical white matter damage and in some cases periventricular necrosis. We have demonstrated that the timing and severity of these prenatal insults are determinants of the outcomes, in terms of the severity of the damage and the regions of the brain affected.