A methodological review of fetal neurosonographic studies: New directions in assessment of neurodevelopmental risk for mental health problems

Abstract

Most mental disorders are now considered to have neurodevelopmental origins, with a growing body of research pointing to neural alterations that predate birth. However, lack of established methods for reliable investigation of fetal brain development has limited research into early neural vulnerability. Using a systematic approach and quantitative evaluation of study methodology, we review neurosonographic studies of fetal brain structure with objective quality measures. A total of 81 studies were identified. High quality studies were identified for measurement of the corpus callosum, cerebellum, vermis, ventricles and frontal cortex, with reference ranges provided to facilitate future clini..