(STUDY FINDS) – Becoming a new father can spark feelings of joy, but these emotions may also come with some permanent changes to the brain. A recent study looking at “dad brain” found that first-time fathers show signs of brain shrinkage, especially in areas involved in empathy and visual processing.
The study authors suggest that brain changes come from neuroplasticity, the ability to create or modify brain connections to adapt to new experiences.
“Becoming a parent entails changes to your lifestyle and your biology,” says Darby Saxbe, a professor of psychology at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and senior study author, in a news release. “And it requires new skills like being able to empathize with a nonverbal infant, so it makes sense but has not been proven that the brain would be particularly plastic during the transition to parenthood as well.”
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