Having children makes you smarter? Incredible, but true

Mothers and fathers have healthier, younger-looking brains, according to recent studies. It must be all those years of mental and emotional gymnasticsGood news, fellow parents: our children may have laid waste to our finances, pelvic integrity and circadian rhythms, and mocked our new sandals so devastatingly we can never wear them again, but a series of studies reported in New Scientist suggest parenting “may permanently improve brain health for Mum and Dad”. In one study, mothers with more children showed patterns associated with younger brains; another of nearly 38,000 people found “mothers and fathers have younger-looking brains”.This is unexpected. I feel as though parenting reduced me to a cognitive husk: the lyrics to Here Comes a Digger – a rare groove from a DVD my elder son briefly enjoyed in 2005 – long ago supplanting the whereabouts of my keys, informed political opinions and the ability to form coherent sentences. I’m only fit for three things now: worrying, laundry and snacks. Continue reading...