SOC 32 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Spina Bifida, Pax6, Neural Plate
Document Summary
In the last few weeks, the brain continues to grow; creates the folds to accommodate its size. Timeline of brain development is usually referred to in terms of number of gestational weeks. 40 weeks being full term, or embryonic days (e. g. e13). the first 8 weeks are referred to in humans as the embryonic period and the subsequent weeks as the fetal period. By the end of the fetal period the vast majority of neurons have been produced, and major pathways have been completed and rudimentary neural networks have been formed. the brain starts to develop around the second week. Gastrulation is a process which leads to this two layer structure becoming a three layer structure. The brain starts developing in the 3rd postnatal week. At the start of the 3rd gw the embryo which is at this point a two-layer structure (containing epiblast and hypoblast cells) undergoes process known as gastrulation which transforms the embryo into a 3-layered structure.
