“The regions that decrease in functional connectivity as individuals age are the regions associated with increased connectivity when individuals have had children,” Avram Holmes, lead author, associate professor of psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and core faculty member of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute and the Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research, said in a statement. focused on brain regions involved in movement, sensation, and social behavior.

The researchers analyzed brain scans from nearly 37,000 adults in the UK Biobank and focused on brain regions associated with movement, sensation, and social behavior. They found that parents had stronger functional connectivity in key brain networks, especially those responsible for motor and sensory functions. These regions typically weaken with age.