And, one more thing. Science has found more and more data on the development of a fetus in the womb, with the most recent findings being when real development of the cerebral cortex takes place during gestation. A fetus' cerebral cortex begins developing as early as the 1st trimester, and has significant development between 12 and 22 weeks.
This means that the part of the brain, which most scientists believe controls how we identify with who we are as people, is developed much sooner than once believed. Just imagine what we will know 10 years from now. Yet, for some strange reason, you "intellectuals" have no worries that, aborting a fetus after a certain period is not actually a process which could be considered the killing of a human life. You don't even question it.
Being male, I try to stay out of the abortion debate, unless I happen to be one half of the pregnancy in question. However, I have the feeling that, no matter what facts are revealed about fetal development, you will never change your view on the subject.
Before 12 weeks, few sulci were present; by 16 weeks, many sulci were present. The 16th week could be considered the most intensive time point for sulcal emergence. Most sulci, except for the postcentral sulcus and intraparietal sulcus, were present by 22 weeks GA. Measurements of the fetal brains, each with different growth rates, linearly increased with GA, but no sexual dimorphisms or cerebral asymmetries were detected.
CONCLUSIONS: The second trimester is the most important phase, during which most sulci are present and can be clearly shown on 7T postmortem MR imaging. It is apparent that the specific time during which neuropathologic features of sulci appear, previously thought to be well understood, should be redefined.
Z. Zhang,
Z. Hou,
X. Lin,
G. Teng,
H. Meng,
F. Zang,
F. Fang and
S. Liu
