The transition to parenthood remains an understudied window of potential neuroplasticity in the adult brain. White matter microstructural (WMM) organization, which reflects structural connectivity in the brain, has shown plasticity across the lifespan. No studies have examined how WMM organization changes from the prenatal to postpartum period in men becoming fathers. This study investigates WMM organization in men transitioning to first-time fatherhood. We performed diffusion-weighted imaging to identify differences in WMM organization, as indexed by fractional anisotropy (FA). We also investigated whether FA changes were associated with fathers’ postpartum mental health. Associations between mental health and WMM organization have not been rarely examined in parents, who may be vulnerable to mental health problems. Fathers exhibited reduced FA at the whole-brain level, especially in the cingulum, a tract associated with emotional regulation. Fathers also displayed reduced FA in the corpus callosum, especially in the forceps minor, which is implicated in cognitive functioning. Postpartum depressive symptoms were linked with increases and decreases in FA, but FA was not correlated with perceived or parenting stress. Findings provide novel insight into fathers’ WMM organization during the transition to parenthood and suggest postpartum depression may be linked with fathers’ neuroplasticity during the transition to parenthood.

中文翻译：

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过渡到父亲身份期间的白质微观结构组织

为人父母的转变仍然是成人大脑潜在神经可塑性的一个未被充分研究的窗口。白质微结构（WMM）组织反映了大脑的结构连接性，在整个生命周期中都表现出可塑性。尚无研究探讨成为父亲的男性从产前到产后 WMM 组织如何变化。本研究调查了首次当父亲的男性中的 WMM 组织。我们进行了弥散加权成像来识别 WMM 组织中的差异，如分数各向异性 (FA) 所示。我们还调查了 FA 变化是否与父亲的产后心理健康相关。心理健康与 WMM 组织之间的关联并不少见，因为他们可能容易受到心理健康问题的影响。父亲的全脑水平 FA 降低，尤其是扣带回，这是一个与情绪调节相关的区域。父亲们的胼胝体 FA 也减少，尤其是小钳，这与认知功能有关。产后抑郁症状与 FA 的增加和减少有关，但 FA 与感知或养育压力无关。研究结果为父亲在为人父母过渡期间的 WMM 组织提供了新的见解，并表明产后抑郁症可能与父亲在为人父母过渡期间的神经可塑性有关。