Neurological maturation of the human fetus.

The study of body movements (gross, eye, breathing movements) by realtime echography and their computerized analysis the assessment of the maturation of the behavioural patterns in the human fetus in utero. From the 28 weeks of gestation, 3 patterns can be defined; they are comparable to the sleep stages described in the premature and fullterm newborn. Pathological cases are discussed separately.