A new study has revealed dads' brains shrink slightly when their baby is born - allowing them to become more empathetic. The brain physically changes in the areas which are linked to empathy and visual processing.
This process contribute to neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to create and form new synaptic connections to adapt to new experiences. Professor Darby Saxbe, of the University of Southern California and senior author of the study, said: "Becoming a parent entails changes to your lifestyle and your biology.
"And it requires new skills like being able to empathise with a nonverbal infant, so it makes sense but has not been proven that the brain would be particularly plastic during the transition to parenthood as well." The study, published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, examined brain scans from 40 expectant fathers – 20 in the US and 20 in Spain.
