Neural Plasticity in Human Fathers
Both new mothers and fathers undergo neural changes that support positive adaptation to parenting and the development of parent-infant relationships. In this chapter, we review important psychological adaptations that fathers and mothers experience during
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Leah Grande, Rebekah Tribble, and Pilyoung Kim
A well-established field of research that examines the neural adaptation to parenthood among mothers exists. Combined with a rich body of nonhuman animal research, the field of the human maternal brain has provided detailed understanding of the neurobiological basis of motherhood and neural risk markers for insensitive parenting (Feldman, 2015; Kim, Capistrano, & Congleton, 2016; Kim, Strathearn, & Swain, 2016; Lonstein, Lévy, & Fleming, 2015; Rutherford, Wallace, Laurent, & Mayes, 2015). In contrast, such understanding of the neurobiological basis of parenting for human fathers is limited. However, recent neuroimaging studies of human fathers provide insight to neural adaptation processes that fathers experience after they have their own children (Feldman, Braun, & Champagne, 2019). In this chapter, we provide the current understanding of how human fathers’ brains support their relationships with their children. First, we review available evidence that compares neural structure and functions among human mothers and fathers. When compared with mothers, fathers undergo similar but also unique processes of neural adaptation to parenthood. Second, as there are individual differences in parenting L. Grande · R. Tribble · P. Kim (*) Department of Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA e-mail: [email protected]
behaviors, there are individual differences in neural responses to children among fathers. We review several factors that are associated with these individual differences in the neural responses to their own child. Third, we review the role of hormones, specifically vasopressin, oxytocin, and testosterone, in the neural responses to their own child among human fathers. Finally, we discuss the implications of the empirical findings and suggest directions for future research.
Paternal Brain Circuitry We start by introducing key brain regions that are involved in parenting. Research on the neural basis of fathering highlights several important brain networks, including subcortical regions important for parental motivation and reward, as well as cortical regions involved in emotional and cognitive empathy. Please see Fig. 11.1 for a visual representation of key brain networks implicated in human paternal behavior (Abraham et al., 2018; Feldman et al., 2019), including subcortical, mentalizing, embodied simulation, and “executive” networks. Animal research has played an important role in mapping the paternal brain. Although paternal care is relatively common in birds and fish, only 3–5% of mammals exhibit paternal caregiving. Nonhuman animal research has focused on certain species that exhibit paternal care, such as the
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 H. E. Fitzgerald et al. (eds.), Handbook of Fathers and Child Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51027-5_11
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Fig. 11.1 Paternal brain circuitry. This figure represents a number of brain networks involved in paternal caregiving, including the subcortical net
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