Becoming a dad rewires the brain

WHEN our daughter was born this year, our lives changed forever.

- RICHARD SIMA

For my wife and me, there was a clear event horizon boundary separating a Before and an After - a reality that has been etched in our brains and biology.

Research shows that mothers undergo dramatic changes during pregnancy and following childbirth, akin to a “second puberty,” which causes hormonal fluctuations and a shrinking brain (which sounds bad but is more like streamlining neural connections in a positive way).

Recent studies suggest that, like mothers, fathers may undergo a profound shift in their biology and brains in preparation for and response to the responsibilities of parenthood.

These biological changes may actually be adaptive to the challenges of parenthood for any parent, research suggests. And there is even evidence that parenthood is beneficial and neuroprotective for the brain, even if the stresses of 4am feedings and inconsolable crying may not feel like it at the time.

This research is “a very important signal for us as scientists, as a society, that caregiving is just a universal thing and it just changes you forever,” said Negin Daneshnia, a psychologist at RWTH Aachen University in Germany.

What dad brain looks like

Becoming a father (and, presumably, any parent who hasn't given birth) sculpts the brain - how it looks, how it is connected and how it functions.

The largest changes are in the cerebral cortex, in what is known as the mentalizing network, which is important for thinking about others’ thoughts, feelings and intentions, said Darby Saxbe, a professor of psychology at the University of Southern California and author of Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How It Shapes Men’s Lives.