Mommy Brain for Dads

Have you heard of "mommy brain?" That's the term we moms use when we're so wrapped up in our offspring that we forget the car keys … leave the stove on … and neglect our spouse. Well, guess what: Moms aren't alone in experiencing chemical changes with parenthood. It turns out that dads, too, are members of the club.

In fact, says researcher Ruth Feldman of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel, fathers may be "biologically programmed" to help raise children. That's because both fathers and mothers experience a rise in oxytocin, the "cuddle chemical," after a child is born. And, according to an article in New Scientist: "Fathers with higher oxytocin played more with their child, who displayed more attachment to them than did kids whose fathers had lower oxytocin."

If dads are loaded with cuddle chemicals, does it really make a difference to their kids?

To find out, researcher Gabriella Gobbi at McGill University in Montreal and colleagues experimented on mice that act peculiarly like human parents. They removed father mice from their babies, leaving the little ones alone with mom. What they found was intriguing: "Cells in pups deprived of fathers had a blunted response to oxytocin … which is normally released during social interactions and pair bonding. They also had an increased response [chemicals] involved in memory. The fatherless mice were also less interested in engaging with other mice."

Granted that (most) men aren't mice. But given all these findings, why fool around with mother nature? Give dad a chance to get goofy … talk baby talk to his best friends … and enjoy the blissful silliness of daddy brain.