Dads' brains shrink slightly when their baby is born

Scientists have found that the alterations happen to the organ when a child is welcomed and areas that help males care for their newborns develop.

The "daddy baby-brain" physically changes the areas that are linked to empathy and visual processing to allow for a better emotional connection.

The study compared brain scans from 40 new fathers to those of childless men.

Professor Darby Saxbe, of the University of Southern California, said: "Becoming a parent entails changes to your lifestyle and your biology.

"It requires new skills like being able to empathise with a nonverbal infant. So it makes sense, but has not been proven, the brain would be particularly plastic during the transition to parenthood. It might suggest higher-order cognitive processing involved in fatherhood."

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