It’s all brain activation and hormones…
It might be possible to predict the type of father a man will be, a small study has found.
The study, in Developmental Psychobiology, found that how men will behave as parents can be predicted by examining brain activation and measuring levels of oxytocin, the so-called ‘love hormone’.
Oxytocin, known to aid the parent-child bond, is released into the bloodstream in response to love. It thereby induces labour and has a role in moving sperm.
The study examined 39 men during their partners’ pregnancy, and then again three months after their babies were born.
An MRI recorded the areas of the brain that activated in the fathers-to-be. The men also provided blood samples to show their oxytocin levels.
Three months postpartum, the men returned for a questionnaire on parenting philosophy.
The men whose brains showed more activation in areas linked to social interaction and the ability to predict needs or interpret behaviour reportedly had a more empathetic parenting style.
Those with the same brain activation also had higher levels of oxytocin in their blood.
These fathers generally reported having a parenting style focused on interpreting their baby’s needs, and having more physical closeness with their baby.
