Development of the Paternal Brain in Humans throughout Pregnancy

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that paternal caregiving behaviours are reliant on neural pathways similar to those supporting maternal care. Interestingly, a greater variability exists in parental phenotypes in males than in females among individuals and mammalian species. However, less is known about when or how such variability emerges in human males. We investigated the longitudinal changes in the neural, hormonal and psychological bases of expression of paternal caregiving in humans throughout pregnancy and the first four months postpartum. We measured oxytocin and testosterone, paternity-related psychological traits and neural response to infant-interaction videos using fMRI in first-time fathers and childless men at three time points (early–mid-pregnancy, late-pregnancy and postpartum). We found that paternal-specific brain activity in prefrontal areas distinctly develops during middle-to-late pregnancy and is enhanced postpartum. Additionally, among fathers, the timing of the development of prefrontal brain activity was associated with specific parenting phenotypes.

Do Parental Hormone Levels Synchronize During the Prenatal and Postpartum Periods? A Systematic Review

“…During the family-formation process, parents display neural and hormonal changes that have been found to be associated with different adaptive parental behaviors (Brunton & Russell, 2008;Diaz-Rojas et al, 2021). Women in particular undergo drastic hormonal shifts during the gestation and postpartum periods, which are vital in the regulation of the physiological processes needed for the maintenance of pregnancy, fetal development, and the facilitation of maternal care (Brunton & Russell, 2008;Kodogo et al, 2019;Miranda & Sousa, 2018).…”