#4 Embryology
A common reader does not have to go through the details here. It is easier for science students, for they may have learnt some of it sometime. There are medical words for which a replacement in simpler form is not easy to find. Major research in this area in the last few years has prompted me to add this topic.Inside the mother, the fetus first has an embryonic life for first eight weeks and then a fetal life. The placenta is the main route of nutrition from the mother to fetus. It not only provides nutrition and oxygen but also hormones and enzymes. In the absence of good nutrition the fetus may be lower in weight and at times brain may also be affected.Research on how life in the womb influences the brain is only beginning. But already there are hints, from both animal and human research. In a 1997 paper, biologists reported a study of people with asymmetries in traits like feet, fingers, ears and elbows. IQs were lower in asymmetric people by about as much (percentage-wise) as their measurements deviate from perfect symmetry. Some sort of stress during fetal development probably causes asymmetries, suggests Thorn hill of the University of New Mexico. The same stress may cause imperfections in the developing nervous system, leading to less efficient neurons for sensing, remembering and thinking. Here, too, asymmetry is a marker. It shows something is wrong in the womb. He estimates that between 27 and 50 percent of IQ differences reflect in-utero causes.Dr. Rajesh ShuklaMD, Pediatrician
