Imagine your brain as a symphony conductor, directing a complex orchestra of neural activity. But as we age, the brain’s ability to control and coordinate these activities begins to decline. However, new research suggests that parenthood, especially motherhood, may hold the key to preserving this control. In a study of over 800 individuals, scientists used brain imaging techniques to quantify the whole-brain controllability – the extent to which the brain can regulate its own functions. They found that in women without children, controllability decreased with age. However, in mothers, this decline was not observed. In fact, mothers showed higher levels of controllability compared to non-mothers. Remarkably, this protective effect of parenthood on brain aging was even stronger in mothers than in fathers. These findings point to the long-lasting changes in brain structure that occur during motherhood, effectively slowing down the aging process. The implications of this research are profound – being a parent might not only enrich our lives but also help us keep our brains youthful and sharp!

BackgroundControllability is a measure of the brain’s ability to orchestrate neural activity which can be quantified in terms of properties of the brain’s network connectivity. Evidence from the literature suggests that aging can exert a general effect on whole-brain controllability. Mounting evidence, on the other hand, suggests that parenthood and motherhood in particular lead to long-lasting changes in brain architecture that effectively slow down brain aging. We hypothesize that parenthood might preserve brain controllability properties from aging.MethodsIn a sample of 814 healthy individuals (aged 33.9 ± 12.7 years, 522 females), we estimate whole-brain controllability and compare the aging effects in subjects with vs. those without children. We use diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to estimate the brain structural connectome. The level of brain control is then calculated from the connectomic properties of the brain structure. Specifically, we measure the network control over many low-energy state transitions (average controllability) and the network control over difficult-to-reach states (modal controllability).Results and conclusionIn nulliparous females, whole-brain average controllability increases, and modal controllability decreases with age, a trend that we do not observe in parous females. Statistical comparison of the controllability metrics shows that modal controllability is higher and average controllability is lower in parous females compared to nulliparous females. In men, we observed the same trend, but the difference between nulliparous and parous males do not reach statistical significance. Our results provide strong evidence that parenthood contradicts aging effects on brain controllability and the effect is stronger in mothers.

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