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The Benefits of Fatherhood

By cortex on September 1, 2006.

The talented Elizabeth Gould of Princeton has done it again: she has produced another study documenting the power of structural plasticity. This time she studied marmoset fathers. She compared the brains of first time and experienced fathers with males who never had children. Her results showed that experienced marmoset fathers had a higher density of dendritic connections in the prefrontal cortex than nonfathers. In addition, marmoset dads had more vasopressin receptors, which makes sense since vasopressin is thought to be involved in parental behavior and social bonding. Furthermore, the density of vasopressin receptors seemed to decrease as the marmoset children got older, which suggests that the experience of nurturing infants actually upregulates vasopressin receptor production. This study makes me want to start babysitting...

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I'd bet the buildup of vasopressin receptors requires some degree of success in being a parent. If the babysitting you wind up doing is impossible, and you walk away saying, "I'm never doing that again!" either there won't be a buildup of vasopressin receptors or there's some other chemical change to illustrate that bonding isn't everything.

As with many things, it's good not to rush. There's a right time for everything, I think.