Yale researchers analyzed fMRI connectivity from 167 fetuses and 477 newborns and found that two face-processing pathways were detectable by 30 weeks’ gestation. The pathway associated in adults with dynamic, speaking faces showed particularly strong growth across the transition from before to after birth. This is evidence that the network architecture begins assembling in the third trimester—not that a fetus recognizes faces, and not a prenatal autism test. The useful result is developmental timing at unusually large scale. Yale School of Medicine, Oct. 13