Dr. Darby Saxbe

And so the brain age is reflecting structural brain data.

There's also work on resting state.

So resting state is another kind of functional brain scan that

where you're looking at connectivity of the brain at rest.

And so you're kind of looking at what parts of the brain are talking to what other parts.

And again, there's evidence that when older adults have been parents, they show kind of livelier, more connected patterns of brain resting state.

So there's sort of these dual sources of evidence that there seems to be some resilience that comes from

when people have parenting experience and when you look at them in later life.

It's clearly something about parenting experience that is important.

And my hunch is it's something to do with social integration.

When you've had kids, you are less likely to be isolated.

You're more tied to other people in your life.

And we know that relationships are really protective in aging, especially for men.

And so I think this brain health literature is kind of reflecting that.

Definitely.

Yeah, there are some really special ways that dads play with kids.

And so when we think about father-child play, we often think about kind of vigorous, like what's called proprioceptive touch, which is like picking a baby up.

chasing them, tickling them, just that really like active kind of hands-on play.

And kids really enjoy that kind of play.

It's thrilling and they benefit from it, right?