Social Psychiatry, Vol. 48 No. 4, 2020.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2020.382
Cognitive Development and Intelligence, Mental Health and Mental Disorders – Do They Have an Antenatal Origin?
Asim Kurjak
; nternational Academy of Perinatal Medicine, Zagreb
Aida Salihagić-Kadić
; University of Zagreb, Medical School, Department of Physiology
Miro Jakovljević
; University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine
Lara Spalldi Barišić
; Polyclinic “Veritas”, Zagreb
Milan Stanojević
; Clinical Hospital Sveti Duh, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Neonatology, Zagreb
Aziz Hasanović
; Meshikat of Islamic Community of Croatia, Zagreb
Elma Abdula Hasanagovski
; Hospital Sante Plus, Skopje, North Macedonia
Lara Martinović
; Research Assistant, Zagreb, Croatia
Vjeko Vacek
; Research Fellow, Executive Director of Ian Donald School of Ultrasound in Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The human brain is an incredible and fascinating organ in every respect. It took nature several billion years of evolution to construct and perfect such a sophisticated neural architecture with an infinite spectrum of perfectly coordinated functions and amazing capability for change and adaptation. Today, the advancement of technology has enabled us to strive to understand human cognitive capabilities and adaptation to an elaborate environment, which includes that crucial period in which the most complex structure in the human body develops – the prenatal period. Insights into the processes of fetal brain and central nervous system development are gradually confirming the theory that most brain functions we have been studying for years have their origin in the prenatal period. Similarly, the interplay between the genome, epigenome, and environment shapes a phenotype of human health or illness even before birth. It seems that the time has come for a recognized specialty in Prenatal and Perinatal Psychiatry.
Keywords
Cognitive Function; Intelligence Development; Prenatal Brain Development; Fetal Brain Function; Prenatal and Perinatal Psychiatry
Hrčak ID:
255711
URI
Publication date:
14.4.2021.
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