Daddy Brain

Fatherhood- long neglected as a field of inquiry- has recently become an important area of research among sociologists and others in the social sciences. The most cutting edge research related to fatherhood, however, is clearly that associated with neuroscience. Despite all the evidence suggesting as much, men do not spend most of their time thinking of sleep, donuts, and beer, at least when they become dads. “When men morph into fathers, they experience a neural revival that benefits their children,” Brian Mossop explained in Scientific American Mind, with both baby’s and dad’s brains forever altered in the days following birth. A biochemical bond is quickly established between fathers and their children, analogous to the one forged between mothers and their fetuses during pregnancy. Dads’ brains are hardwired to respond to any threat to their infants’ comfort and survival, for example, this just one way how oxytocin (the “love hormone”) affects early paternal behavior. Fathers’ and babies’ brains function symbiotically, neuroscientists are finding, each party benefiting in some way from each other’s cognitive influence. Men even grow new, additional neurons after becoming fathers, studies have shown, nature’s way of establishing an emotional connection that will pay off dividends throughout the child’s life.

If the idea of some kind of cognitive symbiosis taking place is not amazing enough, a father’s brain will alter its hormonal outputs and neural activity depending on his particular parenting responsibilities. Dads’ brains can switch back and forth between a network geared towards social bonding and vigilance and one designed for planning and thinking, according to a 2014 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, changing its output based on the situation. Nurture is certainly important in parenting but, as in an increasing number of other activities, it is nature that researchers are discovering predisposes an individual toward certain behavior. Being a “good” parent is thus heavily determined by the brain’s wiring, this research suggests, making us rethink much of what we have assumed about the practice of fatherhood. Although fatherhood has been around as long as humans, we are clearly embarking on a new frontier of understanding it, with many exciting adventures no doubt looming for the future.