We know that having children changes many aspects of our life, particularly the way we think. But according to various research done over the years, becoming mothers and fathers also has effects on our brain .
For example, the most recent study in this regard, found that having children could be beneficial for brain health , since fathers and mothers older than 70 years showed to have thicker gray matter than those people who had not had children, maintaining the brain young.
The study
Published in the journal Plos One , the observational study carried out by Australian researchers analyzed the differences in gray matter in a group of people over 70 years of age, in order to discover if there was a difference in the cerebral cortex of those who had had children and those who never had them .
Through magnetic resonances in which the differences present in the thickness of the gray matter were examined, questionnaires about the children they had had and a small cognitive activity, it is how the results of each group were reviewed and compared.
One of the differences they found is that women who have had more children tend to have better memory function later in life . But these brain differences were not only limited to the mother’s brain, which, as we know from other studies, changes during pregnancy to better take care of the baby.
According to the results of the study, both mothers and fathers over the age of 70 were found to have thicker cortical brain regions than people who had never had children .
What is relevant or curious about this is that you know that the thickness of the gray matter in the brain decreases with age, so this finding may indicate that being a father helps keep your brain young .
The reasons are not known with certainty, since being an observational study, it cannot show how or why having children seems to cause improvements in brain function, although the researchers have some theories.
The main one is that fathers and mothers face new challenges to guarantee the safety and well-being of their children, making motherhood and fatherhood a complex learning experience that lasts two or more decades , thus contributing to brain health.
As we know, as our children grow, we find new goals, new fears and, of course, new learning necessary for their upbringing and care , a situation that those who never have children do not go through.
In conclusion, having children can be beneficial for our brain since it seems that this life experience helps to maintain the thickness of the gray matter in the long term, even many decades after we have become parents.
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Via | Scimex
In Babies and more | Fatherhood changes men’s brains, The mother’s brain changes during pregnancy to take better care of the baby
