In Brief
- Australian researchers say there's no cognitive difference between new parents and non-parents
- However, new fathers had lost confidence in their capacity, showing a need for more support for new parents
'Baby brain' has long been used to describe feelings of forgetfulness and brain fog in new mums.
But a team of psychologists from Monash University have tested the memory of new parents — and they believe mums and dads are just as 'with it' as non-parents.
Co-author and PhD candidate at Monash University Navyaan Siddiqui said that for decades, 'baby brain' was used to stereotype new mums as "lesser".
"Becoming a parent is associated, especially in women, with these lapses in memory and cognitive decline," he said.
"Our study suggests the capacity is the same."
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Testing baby brain
The study recruited 290 new parents, and 100 non-parents, and put them through a series of tests looking at memory and executive function.
The new parents all had children no more than two years old. The tests included memorising a list of words to see how many a person could remember after twenty minutes.
"We expected parents would perform worse than non-parents on the cognitive tasks," Siddiqui said.
However, they found no difference between the two groups.
Siddiqui stressed that the findings don't mean that new parents struggling with the mental load of raising a baby were mistaken in feeling overwhelmed.
The cognitive capacity was the same, but "the capacity is being overwhelmed by the demands of parenthood itself".
The real 'baby brain'
Queensland Brain Institute associate professor Susannah Tye, who was not involved in the study, told SBS News, "a lot of things happen to women's brains" while pregnant.
"And that is partly to prepare for that post-partum period."
Tye said that the hormones required to grow a new human impact brain cell volume and white matter, the "cells that protect the neurons in the brain".
Things like memory start to be affected when the stress of caring for a newborn collides with a lack of sleep.
"When the brain is under energetic stress, it doesn't get the chance to rest and repair and restock its batteries."
This, Tye said, is where it becomes difficult to regulate emotions.
What happens to fathers?
The Monash study showed that new fathers experience a decline in their self-reported memory.
This means that while their objective results were the same, many new fathers had lost confidence in how they were feeling more than any other group.
"It might indicate that dads are being affected by the experience of becoming a parent and all the barriers and things that come with it," Siddiqui said.
Clinical psychologist Chris Barnes told SBS News the findings coincide with the changing role of fathers.
"It's much more blurred than it used to be and much more non-traditional. They're much more involved in childcare and pick-up and drop-offs," she said.
Tye said the shift can also alter fathers' brains.
The human brain can take on and mirror patterns of people close to them, so "biologically, the father can experience similar impacts through that".
Sleep
New parents, regardless of gender, experience the rollercoaster of raising a newborn.
Siddiqui said that while new fathers might need more support as they transition into parenthood, no parent should ignore their feelings.
"New parents shouldn't discount their experiences when they're struggling," Siddiqui said.
"[The findings] don't mean that new parents don't need support with things like sleep."
Barnes said that parents can use 'baby brain' as a way to be critical of themselves.
"They feel like there's something wrong with them," she said.
"It's a great relief when you explain to new mums that it's just their brain working out what it needs to do."
"It's focusing on what's important."
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