Parents’ brains also change when they have children

There is a lot of talk about brain of women when they have children. As soon as pregnancy begins, the brain begins to experience those changes that, over time, turn them into supermommies capable of distinguish your child’s crying among many more. They even react more strongly to their babies’ cries than to their partners’ cries. These supermommies develop an incredible ability to detect if their little one needs them in the middle of the night and can compartmentalize their tasks so that there is always room for parenting. The brain changes a lot, of course. But parents’ brains change too. Obviously, there are no hormonal changes due to any pregnancy, but your brain adapts to attend to that new life that comes into the world.

For that reason, there are no excuses. Fathers are as biologically capable as mothers to care for their children’s needs. If a parent does not know the name of the pediatrician or where the diapers are kept, it may be because they did not want to learn.

Reconfiguration of gray matter in the brain of parents

This 2026, a study was published in which the brains of 25 new parents were analyzed using functional magnetic resonance imaging at weeks 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 after birth. Thus, it was observed that in the first six weeks the gray matter volume in areas like the insula, the hippocampus, and the occipital, frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. The loss of gray matter may sound like they were becoming dumber, but nothing could be further from the truth. They were rewiring his brain.

Therefore, after those first six weeks the process stabilized, to begin to become an increase in gray matter levels from week 12, especially in the frontal cortex and the cerebellum. Basically, it is believed that neuronal pruning was taking place. Brain connections that are not useful are eliminated to invest more energy in reinforcing those that will be essential in that new life. It is a process that occurs to all people throughout life. adolescencebut that can occur in specific situations such as parenthood.

In fact, a big change was also seen in the brain connections of the parents. For example, the amygdaladirectly involved with emotional processing, greatly strengthened its connections with other regions of the brain.

All these data are added to those of another previous study, 2014in which an increase in gray matter volume was observed in brain regions involved in motivation and reward. Basically, the motivation of parents to take care of their children was being enhanced. This is something that has made us grow as a species evolutionarily. Reward systems make us feel good about situations that are good for us, like having sex or eating chocolate. Sex helps us perpetuate the species and chocolate gives us a lot of energy. Taking care of children is also beneficial for us, although sometimes it can be very tiring, so motivation through reward systems is essential.

Curiously, all these reconfigurations in the brain they are more intense in parents who are more involved in caring for their children. Come on, the brain can be trained to be a good father. The more you practice, the simpler the care becomes.

The parents most involved in parenting are the ones who experience the most changes

It’s also a question of hormones

Hormonal changes are more intuitive in women, as they are often associated with pregnancy. However, in men there are also changes in their hormone levels once they become parents. In fact, has been observed that in the first years of their children’s lives their levels of testosteronewhile oxytocin levels increase. This, far from being bad or stealing one’s virility, as some may venture to think, is essential to developing patience and attachment to one’s children.

There is only one but

It should be noted that, generally, these studies are carried out with few participants and, furthermore, only with parents who are involved in parenting to a greater or lesser extent. The absent parentsthose who believe that by putting in the sperm they have done enough, do not volunteer to know how their brain changes with parenthood. Luckily, there are more and more parents who do get properly involved, but those who don’t continue to exist.

That is the main handicap of these investigations. Anyway, it is clear that the brain changes and can be trained, so surely even they could become super daddies if they wanted to. Or simply in parents. It is not necessary to be a superhero or a superheroine. It is enough to get involved in equal care. The brain is more than prepared, you just have to start using it.

Images | Magnificent

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