Fatherhood Changes Brains of Men

Research shows that pregnancy physically changes a woman’s brain, but what about the fathers?  A new study from USC shows fatherhood actually changes men’s brains too.  They recruited forty men and did two MRIs on each.  The first during their partner’s pregnancy and again when the baby was six months old, with a control group of childless men.  They found “significant changes in the brains of the fathers” which didn’t happen in the brains of the childless men.  The changes occurred in the cortex controlling “visual processing, attention and empathy toward the baby.”  The level of change varied, they believe, depending upon the level of the father’s interaction with their babies.  Having children changes your world.  This budding research may pave the way for showing us how much.