Neuroscience has been in charge of investigating how a woman's brain changes by becoming a mother to take better care of the baby, developing more empathy and affectivity. Due to its growing involvement in parenting, science has wanted to find out if it also changes the brain of man and how it changes by becoming a father.
A recent study has analyzed the influence of oxytocin and vasopressin in the relationships of men with their children and their results are similar to research conducted in women. The more the father is involved in the care of the children, minor are the differences with the changes produced in the brains of the mothers.
Dad counts too ... and a lot
Although the mother is the main reference of the baby, because she was born of her and needs her food and protection during the first months of life (it is clear that mothers have a plus, because they are biologically programmed to be mothers), Research suggests that the emotional ties established with children are not necessarily stronger in the case of mothers, just because they are mothers. The interaction and care of the baby play a fundamental role in strengthening this link.
A recent study published in the "Hormones and Behavior" shows the increase in oxytocin in brain regions associated with the reward and empathy of parents who see photos of their young children. This experiment had been done previously in mothers, but not yet in fathers.
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In Babies and more Modern parents: this is how men feel about fatherhood todayEven the levels that were recorded in them are very similar to those recorded in mothers, so the gap between female and male functions in childcare narrows more and more.
Parents also secrete oxytocin at levels similar to those of mothers when they interact with their babies.Brain changes
Remember that the Oxytocin, known as "the love hormone" It is a well-known hormone in our maternal field, since it is secreted at very high levels during childbirth and also during breastfeeding, related to affectivity. But it is not exclusive to mothers, fathers also segregate it at levels similar to those of mothers when they interact with their babies.
There is no doubt that a evolution in fatherhood, parents who emotionally bond naturally with their children. An adaptation in our species that makes it superior to most mammals, in which the male acts as a breeding guard. The most involved fatherhood is changing the brains of parents to take care of their children.
According to a study carried out with 89 first-time parents by researchers from the Center of Sciences of the Gonda Brain of the University of Bar-Ilan, in Israel, unlike mothers, which shows more activity in the cerebral tonsil, parents experience more activity in the superior temporal groove of the brain, which is a region that is important for socialization, It helps interpret facial expressions, process speech and understand how we interact with others from a more rational point of view.
Oxytocin as therapy
Seeing that, when becoming parents, hormonal changes occur in the brains of men that can facilitate the increase of empathy and motivation to care for their children, they begin to see oxytocin as a possible therapy to treat depression Postpartum in man.
Although there is much more talk about postpartum depression in women, men also suffer from postpartum depression. With the arrival of a child, they also suffer emotional changes that affect their daily lives.
It is believed that about 6% of men can get it and that when more "fit" you have to be: depression during pregnancy and postpartum also affects them. The causes can be varied such as feeling isolated due to the woman's attention to the baby, not feeling able to take care of the baby properly, not meeting the social demands of her environment or believing herself unable to take responsibility for her new role as father .
In Babies and more Dear Dad: having a child is for lifeAccording to the authors of this latest research, the study suggests that "oxytocin, known to play a role in social bonding, could one day be used to normalize deficits in paternal motivation, as in men suffering from post-depression. Birth".
