First-Time Fathers Experience Brain Shrinkage
We’ve all heard of “mom brain,” but what about “dad brain?” It’s a real thing for new parents.
According to Daily Mail, a new study by researchers from the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid has found that first-time fathers lose up to 2% of their brain volume after their first child is born. I think they should check to see if they lose their hearing too! I know my husband’s hearing is terrible, especially in the middle of the night when the baby was crying.
Scientists don’t seem to know why it happens, but they suggest that the change may make it easier for fathers to connect with their children.
The team used MRI scans to assess first-time fathers’ brains, measuring their brain’s volume, thickness, and structural properties. The results showed shrinking in the areas of the brain that handle social understanding and their visual systems.
It looks like young dads can also develop something else when they welcome a new child… the baby blues. I remember a report by Time in 2015 that confirmed that theory.
That study, published in the journal “Pediatrics,” tracked 10,623 young men for about 20 years, keeping score of their depression symptoms. Young men around age 25 had a 68-percent increase of depressive symptoms over their first five years of being dads if they lived in the same home as their kids.
Source: Daily Mail
