Maternal Thyroid Function During Pregnancy: Effects on the Developing Fetal Brain

During pregnancy, numerous hormonal changes and increased metabolic demands lead to complex changes in maternal thyroid physiology and fetal health. Findings from both animal and human research convincingly show that thyroid hormone (TH) is essential for normal brain development and is important for the regulation of a number of critical neurobiological processes [1, 2]. This research has furthermore demonstrated that permanent neuropsychological deficits and alterations in brain development can occur if TH levels are insufficient during gestation [–5].