Brain Activity in the Unborn

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Days

The earliest brain activity was recorded from a 45-day-old embryo (8 weeks and 3 days gestation);¹ however, it is likely that the brain connections needed to create waves of activity are in place before this age. This is simply the earliest age that scientists have tried to record brain activity.

This 8 week gestation embryo from an ectopic pregnancy is the same age as those whose brain activity was recorded. (Image Credit: Dr. Vilas Gayakwad, 26 February 2010, Public Domain)

In the 1950s, two pro-life researchers recorded brain activity from six very young embryos using an electroencephalogram (EEG). They wanted to understand the capabilities of young embryos. These embryos had to be removed because they had implanted in their mothers’ fallopian tubes, called an ectopic pregnancy. If an embryo grows too large inside a mother’s fallopian tubes, the fallopian tubes may rupture, causing severe internal bleeding and sometimes death. These researchers did not want to destroy the embryos, but had to remove them in order to save the mother’s life (personal communication with Winslow Borkowski’s son).

EEGs cannot tell scientists what a person is thinking and feeling, but they can show what state of consciousness a person is in, such as being asleep or awake. EEGs can also show that the brain is sensing and perceiving its environment. For example, EEG recordings from premature babies show how the brain responds to flashes of light at 28 weeks gestation.²

The scientists observed multiple brain rhythms from the embryos. This shows that the neurons were not randomly firing but were connected to one another and synchronizing their activity. The scientists observed two patterns that resembled different types of sleep, and they kept recording until they finally observed brain death.³ If the absence of brain activity signals brain death, then the presence of brain activity indicates brain life. This brain activity can clearly be seen 45 days after conception.

These EEG recordings from the frontal brain areas of a 45-day-old embryo show that even a young embryo has multiple patterns of brain activity resembling those seen in adults. For reference, 45 days is 6 weeks and 3 days after , or 8 weeks and 3 days gestation. Brain death is included for comparison. (Image Credit: Adapted from Borkowski and Bernstine, 1955)

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Sources

Borkowski, Winslow J., and Richard L. Bernstine. “Electroencephalography of the Fetus.” Neurology, 1955. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.5.5.362.'
R. J. Robinson and J. P. Tizard, “The Central Nervous System in the Newborn,” British Medical Bulletin 22, no. 1 (January 1966): 49–55, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a070436.
Borkowski, Winslow J., and Richard L. Bernstine. “Electroencephalography of the Fetus.” Neurology, 1955. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.5.5.362.'

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All images and illustrations on The Voyage of Life were reviewed by credentialed scientists for accuracy.

Medical art animation was used to provide a schematic representation of fetal development, with some features, including timing, not to scale. The animation was chosen as an ethically uncompromised guide to fetal development. There are many real human images at each developmental age showing the most accurate fetal forms throughout development. A concerted effort was made to use images and material in which the human embryo or fetus did not undergo any known harm.

Page last updated on June 20, 2023

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Brain Activity in the Unborn