Hi guys,
As I was doing my nightly rounds, I came across the following article that I found rather interesting. At first I thought, well of course they just want to discourage becoming a father... which might still be the case, however, I found interesting how the brain reflects a change in the life events of a person, particularly the father, who does not undergo pregnancy.
But more interestingly, how not just the mere birth of their baby is reflected physiologically, but their body now reflects their emotional attitude going forward for the rest of their lives as a father. So, I don't think it's the brain shrinking that causes the a region to be less active and thus more emotionally inclined, or efficiently connected. I think it's the emotional choice that gets reflected physiologically in the brain.
You know, the whole.. birds have wings because they fly and not fly because they have wings, came to mind.
Here's the link to the study
As I was doing my nightly rounds, I came across the following article that I found rather interesting. At first I thought, well of course they just want to discourage becoming a father... which might still be the case, however, I found interesting how the brain reflects a change in the life events of a person, particularly the father, who does not undergo pregnancy.
But more interestingly, how not just the mere birth of their baby is reflected physiologically, but their body now reflects their emotional attitude going forward for the rest of their lives as a father. So, I don't think it's the brain shrinking that causes the a region to be less active and thus more emotionally inclined, or efficiently connected. I think it's the emotional choice that gets reflected physiologically in the brain.
You know, the whole.. birds have wings because they fly and not fly because they have wings, came to mind.
Here's the link to the study
Brain may shrink in men who become fathers
Shrinkage was detected primarily in a part of the brain known as the default mode network, associated with parental acceptance and warmth.
A joint study between the Gregorio Marañón Health Research Institute in Spain and the University of Southern California revealed that men may experience brain shrinkage when they become fathers.
Previous work showed that motherhood can produce changes in neurological structure, but did not delve into the effects that fatherhood might cause.
The recent research, published this week in the journal Cerebral Cortex, shows that the first-time parents analyzed lost on average between 1% and 2% of the volume of the cerebral cortex after the birth of their children. The shrinkage was detected mainly in a part known as the default mode network, associated with parental acceptance and warmth.
Although a brain shrinkage sounds like a negative thing, this may indicate a refinement of the brain that makes the connection with an infant stronger and more efficient.
"These findings may suggest a unique role of the visual system in helping parents recognize their infants and respond accordingly, a hypothesis that will be confirmed by future studies," the authors stated.
The research is based on magnetic resonance imaging data from 40 parents, half of whom were from Spain and half from the United States.