PSYC 2740 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Umbilical Cord, Embryonic Disc, Prenatal Development
9 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Prenatal development: development that occurs between the moment of conception and the beginning of the birth process. From the moment of conception it takes about 266 days for the one-celled zygote to become a fetus of billions of cells to be born. The zygote is divided by mitosis into two or more cells as it moves down the fallopian tube. These cells continue to divide, forming a ball shaped structure known as the blastocyst: the blastocyst contains 60-80 cells within 4 days of conception. Embryonic disk is the inner layer of the blastocyst and later becomes the embryo. This occurs when the blastocyst"s tendrils reach the uterine wall after conception and burrow inward to tap the mother"s blood supply. There is a specific window of implantation in which the blastocyst must know where and when to attach itself: the whole process takes 10-14 days after ovulation.
