Having kids might keep your brain young, says a new UK study. Research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) indicates that having children can shield against brain ageing by enhancing brain function.
The research included 37,000 adults and was the biggest inquiry into how parenthood influences brain health. Parenting is not without its difficulties — stress and tiredness are two of them — but the research indicates that children can be good for cognitive health in the long term by giving mental stimulation, promoting exercise, and creating social interaction.
“We find parenting more children is associated with higher brain-wide functional connectivity, especially in networks associated with movement and sensation,” the study noted.
In contrast to many earlier studies that concentrated mostly on mothers, this study had about 17,000 men. The research showed that despite the fact that fathers don’t go through pregnancy and childbirth, parenting children still benefits their brain health.
“These same networks showed lower functional connectivity associated with higher age, suggesting that parenthood might protect against functional brain aging. This effect is observed in both females and males, implicating the caregiving environment, rather than pregnancy alone,” the study added.
Surprisingly, the researchers discovered that the cognitive benefits grew with the number of children. Avram Holmes, a professor of psychiatry at the Rutgers Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research and principal author on the study, described the relationship.
“We’re finding a broad pattern of functional changes, in which more children fathered is linked with greater functional connectivity, particularly in regions of the brain involved in movement, sensation and social interaction,” Holmes reported.
The research indicates that even though parenting is both physically and mentally tiring, the activity might help preserve brain health in older years. Playing, talking, and caring for children on a regular basis may be the secret to keeping the brain sharp and resistant to damage as the years go by.
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