Shanxi Omoniyi | March 26, 2025
(The Lion) — Do you want to stay young for longer?
Then have more children, a recent study from Rutgers Health and Yale University suggests.
“Parenting more children is associated with higher brain-wide functional connectivity, especially in networks associated with movement and sensation,” researchers concluded in PNAS, the peer-reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences.
“These same networks showed lower functional connectivity associated with higher age, suggesting that parenthood might protect against functional brain aging.”
Analysts drew these conclusions using “the largest population-based neuroimaging dataset to date” – analyzing the brain function of nearly 20,000 females and 18,000 males from the UK Biobank.
“Focusing on areas responsible for movement, sensation, and social connection, the researchers found that parents, especially those with more children, had stronger connectivity in these crucial brain networks,” wrote Sanjana Gajbhiye for Earth.com.
“Interestingly, these changes are not just the results of pregnancy. Both mothers and fathers experience these benefits, thereby implying that parenting itself could influence these alterations.”
More children, more ‘functional connectivity’
Contrary to popular stereotypes of stressed-out parents nearing mental exhaustion, caring for children may provide a type of workout for the brain.
“The constant physical and mental engagement required by parenting could fortify brain connections over time,” Gajbhiye explained.
Instead of seeing a decrease in neural connectivity, parents showed “a widespread pattern of functional alterations” that offset the usual aging patterns, said Avram Holmes, associate professor of psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
“A higher number of children parented is associated with increased functional connectivity across somatosensory and motor networks,” he noted.
As a result, parenting seems to help “build up brain health benefits” over time, according to the Earth.com article.
“A common consequence of aging is the reduced communication between different brain regions,” Gajbhiye wrote. “This decline can negatively impact movement, sensory perception, and cognitive abilities.”
Researchers also documented the increased social interactions of parents, compared to their childless peers.
“Participants in the study who were parents also exhibited higher levels of social connection,” Gajbhiye wrote.
“They were observed to have more expansive social networks compared to non-parents, and greater frequency of family visits. Social engagement is known to positively impact brain health, as it promotes mental stimulation and emotional wellness.”
Research such as this highlights the importance of “new dialogues” surrounding social engagement, parenthood and brain health, according to Gajbhiye.
“This remarkable study dispels the belief that parenting is a primary source of stress. Instead, it highlights parenting as a dynamic experience that engages individuals mentally, physically, and emotionally.”
This article was made available to EdNews Virginia via The Lion, a publication of the Herzog Foundation.