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Dad brain is real, and it is a good thing
New science reveals parenting is transformative for men
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Men’s involvement in fatherhood can have long-term benefits for their brain health and for healthy societies.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Darby Saxbe
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A father of three recently told me that if he could go back in time and give himself one piece of advice, it would be to have kids sooner. Fatherhood changed him; it gave his life purpose, he said. It turns out neuroscience agrees with him.
My research lab investigates how the brain changes when men become fathers, and we are discovering that fatherhood can be transformative for their brains and bodies. The brain and hormonal changes we observe in new dads tell us that nature intended men to participate in child-rearing, because it equipped them with neurobiological architecture to do so. They, too, can show the fundamental instinct for nurturing that is often attributed solely to mothers.
