While recent studies show that pregnancy and childbirth positively alter the brain chemistry of mothers, could parenting have a similar impact on men?

The 2005 book The Mommy Brain documented research by Craig Kinsley and Kelly Lambert on female rats who were either pregnant or recent mothers, showing that motherhood sharpened their senses and increased their motivation and resilience. Susan Kuchinskas reports for Miller-McCune that this same team is now concentrating on fathers. Their research on mice, along with similar studies on monkeys and humans, suggests that fatherhood chemically alters men to make them better fathers.

“Loving a woman and fathering her children changes a man’s body and brain in ways that make him more canny and resourceful,” Kuchinskas writes, “while improving his ability to handle stress. At the same time, living with the woman he loves alters a man’s hormones and neurochemistry to make him a better mate.”

Examples in nature include: the California deer mouse, who stays around the home after mating to groom and look after his kids; the male marmoset, whose hormones cause him to gain weight along with his mate during pregnancy; and, the “highly monogamous” titi monkey, who mates for life and allows his offspring to cling to his body.

In humans, studies have found that married men have lower levels of the hormone testosterone, while new fathers exhibit higher levels of prolactin. Both of these conditions positively influence a father’s parenting skills by increasing his sympathy and motivation to help his offspring.

Interestingly, a study by the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center suggests that lower testosterone could actually be triggered by a newborn baby’s smell. Scientists at the center separated marmoset fathers from their families and then exposed them to scent from their babies’ genitals. Within 20 minutes, their testosterone levels dropped.

Image by  Michelleannb , licensed under  Creative Commons .

Source: Miller-McCune

When Marian Sandmaier heard the sounds of strange young women’s voices in her front hallway, she dove for the floor, crept upstairs, and hid in her bedroom. What would cause this perfectly functional, successful, and outwardly confident adult to run from her daughter’s friends in a spasm of anxiety?

In this month’s Psychotherapy Networker, Sandmaier explores the lifelong power of one’s temperament. For many years, modern clinicians rejected the idea that one’s temperament was inborn. However, a long-term study by Harvard researcher Jerome Kagan, along with the work of various behavioral molecular geneticists, suggests that our natural inclinations may be hard-wired into our DNA.

Kagan’s study of over 400 children from infancy into young adulthood revealed that roughly half of those who were prone to anxiety, or "high-reactors," shed their early shyness and transformed into extroverted talkers around the age of 15. However, when studied more closely, Kagan found that these seemingly transformed individuals still maintained the same neurological reactions to stress that they exhibited as toddlers. They simply got better at overcompensating for it.

For someone like Sandmaier, who has managed to overcome innate introversion to build a successful career and healthy relationships with others, this means that although she has managed to cultivate a functional “persona” that enables her to navigate the myriad pathways of public life, her “anima”, or private reality, has remained unchanged.

Source: Psychotherapy Networker

Scientific studies have shown that religion makes people happier and less anxious. It would be easy to infer that atheists would be more depressed and nervous, but that’s not exactly the case. The Boston Globe highlights a few studies showing that adamant atheists and pious Christians both tend to be less depressed. The unconvinced people in the middle are often the ones who have the problems.

Source: Boston Globe

It’s flu season again—one more reason for Google to make a new techno-gadget. Their Flu Trends tracking system can estimate flu levels one to two weeks faster than the government Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to Google, making it one of the fastest indicators of who’s blue with the flu.

The numbers are on the rise now, and it’s no coincidence that I suddenly find myself bombarded at the grocery store by nice, white-jacketed people eager to poke a needle into my arm. Flu season brings flu vaccinations, and people are faced again with the choice to shoot up or brave the maelstrom of infectious disease. Here’s a little guide to help you make the decision that suits you best.

The CDC advises a flu vaccination shot for “anyone who wants to reduce their chances of getting the flu,” but particularly for children, pregnant women, people older than 50, and health care professionals or those living in nursing homes. Interestingly, nearly 60 percent of health workers don’t get the shot, reports USA Today. One nurse explained that she avoids it because the only time she got sick with the flu was when she got vaccinated. Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University hopes to stifle stories like this one, which he says have created a wide-spread myth about the transmittance of the flu through the vaccine.

Many in the world of alternative health still remain wary about the shot. Natural Solutions reported in 2006 that the vaccination has myriad antibiotics and additives, such as formaldehyde, gelatin, and thimerosal, an organic form of mercury. They recommend alternative methods of preventing the flu, including their 5 homeopathic remedies, outlined in an online-exclusive accompanying their article “Sidestep the Sniffles.” Yoga Journal also offers a few suggestions, ranging from bolstering your immunity with the Ayurvedic herbs ashwaganda and turmeric, or meditating to reduce stress.

The societal upshot to getting immunized is that you prevent yourself from being a transmitter. Unvaccinated people, even those who never come down with the flu, may spread the disease to others. For this reason, Schaffner told USA Today that it is a professional responsibility for health care workers to get the shot. If your workplace or child's school has not made it mandatory to get vaccinated, however, the decision is yours to make.

Image by  Heliøs , licensed under  Creative Commons . 

There’s a scientific explanation for why people love donuts at the office. A study recently published in Psychosomatic Medicine reveals that “knowledge-based work” causes people to eat much more than normal, even though their brains are technically performing at the same level of activity as if they were just sitting around. The researchers behind the study offer two possible explanations: One is that eating stabilizes blood glucose levels, which the brain relies on heavily. As evidence, the researchers show that glucose levels change when performing knowledge-based work. The other explanation is that knowledge-based work increases stress, and it’s well-documented that stress leads to increased appetite. Either way, it’s probably a good idea to keep the Snickers out of reach as deadlines approach.

(Image courtesy of Eyedropper, licensed under Creative Commons) 

The Australian government’s recent apology to the Aboriginal people for historic wrongs could benefit people’s health, Rachel Nowak reports for the New Scientist. The Aboriginal people currently struggle with high rates of alcoholism, depression, and other physical and mental health issues. Prime Minister Paul Rudd’s apology for forced “assimilation” programs that ended in 1970 has been called “tremendously significant in mental health respects,” by medical policy researcher Marlene Kong. “It will help the healing process, and that in turn will contribute to physical well-being.”

Native Americans in the United States struggle with some of the same issues of substance abuse and depression, yet “the United States has no general program of reparations for Native Americans and no prospects for adopting one,” David C. Williams writes for Cultural Survival Quarterly. Williams believes that Americans’ aversion to guilt is holding up the reparations processes, no matter what the potential benefits could be.

Even with the formal apology, experts quoted by the New Scientist recognize that Australia has a long way to go toward closing the health gap between Aboriginal people and the rest of the country. A 17-year differential in life expectancy currently exists between some Aboriginal communities and Australia as a whole. The government has pledged to close that rift within a generation, but experts agree that greater resources are needed to address the problem.

—Bennett Gordon

Photo by Douglas Kastle, licensed under Creative Commons.