The placenta as a window to the brain: A review on the role of placental markers in prenatal programming of neurodevelopment

Abstract excerpt

BACKGROUND: During development, the placenta can be said to be the most important organ, however, the most poorly researched. There is currently a broader understanding of how specific insults during development affect the fetal brain, and also the importance of placental signaling in neurodevelopmental programming. Epigenetic responses to maternal and fetal signals are an obvious candidate for transforming early...