Stephen’s Posterous

Scientists are finding that growing up without a father may change the way your brain developes.

Anna Katharina Braun, a German biologist, and others are conducting research on animals that are typically raised by two parents in order to understand how this may affect children being raised by a single parent. Dr. Braun believes that parents are the sculptors of their children's brains.

Dr. Braun's work focuses on degus, small rodents related to guinea pigs and chinchillas. Dr. Braun found that when a degu pup is deprived of his or her father, the  pups exhibit changes in nerve-cell growth in different regions of the brain.

This preliminary analysis indicates that fatherless degu pups exhibit more aggressive and impulsive behavior than pups raised by two parents. The degu pups without a father experienced significantly less touching and interaction than those with two parents because the mother did not change the frequency of her interaction with her pups.

A preliminary analysis of the degus' behavior showed that fatherless animals seemed to have a lack of impulse control.

The large number of single-parent households have researchers looking at the possible consequences for children. An Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED) report found that 57% of children in the U.S. live with both parents, among the lowest percentages of the world's wealthiest nations.

The report found that children in single parent households have an increased risk of delinquency and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, as well as poorer academic performance.

The OECD also analyzed data from 122 separate studies and found that there was variability in the negative effects on children of living in a single-parent home. On average, the OECD found, the magnitude of the impact was relatively small.

Dr. Braun's goal for future research is to figure out whether degu pups' brains can be rewired by introducing a substitute caregiver, such as a grandmother, or whether other social and emotional enrichment can help "repair" the fatherless pups, she says.

The bottom line, says Dr. Braun, is that parents need to fuel their children's brains with talk, touch and sensitive stimulation that involves give and take.

Source.