The fetal brain and intrauterine growth.

The fetal brain stimulates intrauterine growth in man, rat and other species. Human congenital brain anomalies and experiments in rats indicate that the hypothalamus is the brain area responsible for this effect. The only factor found to stimulate intra-uterine growth was alpha-MSH. Various observations and experiments in rat show that stimulation of fetal somatic growth might indeed be a physiological function of alpha-MSH, while observations in the human fetus indicate that alpha-MSH might play a similar role in intra-uterine growth in man as well. Preliminary data in rat point to a similar function of this hormone in brain development.