Man’s brain ‘shrinks’ after becoming a father for the first time: Study [TKB Health]

Becoming a parent for the first time is a big adjustment. After the birth of the child, mostly only the behavior, physical changes and problems of the mother are mentioned. No one talks about a man becoming a father. Has anyone ever wondered what happens to a man’s heart and mind after becoming a father for the first time? No, nobody talks about it. They are not paid attention.

Recently an international study has been done. In which it is told how the mental state of men who become fathers for the first time changes. There are neurological changes in them too. The study is small but it shows that the inner layers of the brain do not change only in the case of a mother-to-be. Rather, the neural substrates of men who become fathers for the first time, that is, in simple language, there is a change in the layers of the brain.

With the new responsibility and character, his brain gets affected. But there is no discussion about it anywhere. But it has been revealed in the study that there is a decrease of one or two percent in the cortical volume present in the brain of men who become fathers for the first time. This is a kind of shrinkage, which is associated with the default mode network of the brain. As soon as a man accepts that he has become a father, his mind starts shrinking. This study has recently been published in Cerebral Cortex.
You must be feeling that the decrease in cortical volume is a bad thing. But in reality it enhances the purity of the mind. refines it more. This improves his mental relationship with the child. Love flourishes in his relationship with the child. It is a bit more with women who become mothers. Therefore their attachment, love and relationship with the child is more dense and deeper than father.

In earlier studies, it was told that after the birth of a child, there is a slight change in the mind of a man who becomes a father. In the new study, it has been taken care of how much and how it changes. This study is based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data. In which the brains of 40 people who became fathers for the first time have been analyzed before and after the birth of the child. Of this, 20 are from Spain and 20 are from America.
Apart from this, the brains of 17 more people were also studied in Spain. who do not have children. After collecting all the data together, the volume, thickness and structural development of their brains were studied in two laboratories. It was found that if first-time fathers give less time or attention to children than women, it does not mean that their brains are not affected. He feels the responsibility of becoming a father. Men also have postpartum depression. But these are never taken care of.

Usually, when some kind of happiness is felt, then the subcortex of the brain is affected. But here it is not so. Men are happy after becoming a father but they are falling prey to postpartum depression. His mind is shrinking. Because now they have a new responsibility.