Several interdisciplinary aspects relating to the maturation of central nervous functions and to the possible beginning of mental life in the foetus have been discussed.

Particular attention has been paid to (i) the motor functions present in the foetus at early stages of development and characterized by phasic and tonic, spontaneous and reflex movements; (ii) the sensory functions that endow the foetus with the possibility of being receptive to stimuli that reach him from the maternal container in a rhythmic constant form; (iii) the integrative functions shown by a state of active sleep with movements of the eyes (certainly present after the 28–30th week of pregnancy) and of the body.