Face and neck development of the human embryo

The face and neck development of the human embryo refers to the development of the structures from the third to eighth week that give rise to the future head and neck. They consist of three layers, the ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm, which form the mesenchyme (derived from the lateral plate mesoderm and paraxial mesoderm), neural crest and neural placodes (from the ectoderm).