Patterns of development and formation of the fetal central nervous system integrative function in the antenatal period

The development of the fetal central nervous system and the formation of its integrative functions have been studied for a long time. In the middle of the 20th century, researchers paid attention to structural changes and in the 1980s to the sequence of formation of functional relationships in the fetal body and the possibilities of their assessment. Further development of technology (accumulation of knowledge in the field of embryology, better resolution of ultrasound diagnostic devices, introduction and improvement of magnetic resonance imaging methods) allowed for not only receiving more detailed data on structural patterns in the fetal brain during pregnancy, but also presenting new opportunities for expanding knowledge about its functional condition. The review is devoted to the generalization of knowledge about the development of the fetal central nervous system, the brain vascular network formation and the brain circulation, as well as possibilities of assessing the formation of the fetal central nervous system integrative function during the entire period of pregnancy.