We all have a picture in mind whenever we hear the word “father”. But what does being a dad mean physiologically?
According to Oregon State University, men who became fathers in their late 20s to early 30s showed a decreased predisposition to crime or alcohol use, as opposed to men who became dads in their teens or early 20s.
Professor David Kerr, who spearheaded the study over the course of 19 years, speculated that “having children at a more developmentally-expected time could have been more able or willing to embrace fatherhood and shed negative lifestyle choices.”
Being a dad makes a man more caring
While over at Northwestern University, a study found that men become more caring when they become a father; they’re biologically wired to do so. Once they care for their offspring, their hormones change—chief of which is a drop in testosterone levels.
According to previous research, testosterone is responsible for boosting a male’s tendency to “compete for a mate.”
“Fatherhood and the demands of having a newborn baby require many emotional, psychological, and physical adjustments,” said study author Lee Gettler said in a statement. “Our study indicates that a man’s biology can change substantially to help meet those demands.” Moreover, Gettler’s research revealed lowered levels of testosterone may also protect men from certain chronic diseases.
photo: dreamstime
Being a dad stimulates weight gain
A study published in the journal Biology Letter found that male mammals, like primates, can “gain as much as 20 percent of their body weight,” when their mate (or partner) is pregnant. This is one type of sympathetic pregnancy symptom.
“Sympathetic pregnancy symptoms in men are referred to as ‘couvade’ (derived from the French ‘to incubate or hatch’), indicating that men share some of their mate’s pregnancy symptoms,” wrote the study’s authors. “These symptoms include weight gain, nausea, headache, irritability, restlessness, backache, colds, and nervousness.”
More on how fatherhood changes a man on the next page
Being a dad improves brain function
Various research have found that soon-to-be fathers experienced improvement in the part of their brains responsible for thought analysis, behavior regulation, and abstract thinking.
According to one study, “after childbirth, the neurons in this region showed greater connectivity, suggesting that having young children could boost the part of the brain responsible for planning and memory, skills parents need when having kids gives them more to keep track of.”
photo: dreamstime
Being a dad enhances the “Love Hormone”
LiveScience also found that caring for a child increased a man’s oxytocin levels, or what is also known as the “love hormone.”
Psychiatrist James Swain of the University of Michigan told NBC news that, when a baby cries, “brain activity patterns don’t change as quickly for fathers as they do mothers.”
However, Swain’s research also found that fathers catch up neurologically at about four months. This was more true for stay-at-home dads because spending more time tending to their baby’s needs builds a stronger bond.
“Fathers seem to be particularly important in modern developed Western nations like the U.S., because there are so many people who are living in isolated nuclear families, largely separated from their extended family,” observed Swain. “That limits the number of potential helpers out there. It’s really important that fathers step up.”
LOOK: 15 Powerful photos of dads during birth that sum up the joys of fatherhood
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