Godmothers: Darby Saxbe & Emily Jacobs “Dad Brain”

How fatherhood transforms men’s lives, from their brains to their careers.

Clinical psychologist Darby Saxbe takes the stage to discuss Dad Brain, her groundbreaking exploration of the science and significance of fatherhood that shows great dads are made, not born. She’ll be joined in conversation by Emily Jacobs, a professor of neuroscience at UC Santa Barbara and the director of the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative.

Over the last decade, we’ve learned more about the transformative power of parenthood―biologically, psychologically, and socially―than ever before. But while the experience of motherhood has attracted well-deserved attention, fatherhood has remained overlooked and, often, misunderstood.

Now, in Dad Brain, Darby, who’s also a professor of psychology at the University of Southern California, explains how becoming a father changes men, from their bodies and brain architecture to their hormones and sense of purpose. Inspired by her relationship with her dad, Darby has studied fathers and families for over twenty years. In her first book, she takes readers behind the scenes of her new research and around the world, from hunter-gatherers in the Congo to contemporary suburban dads, and into her pioneering studies of how parenthood shapes men’s brains and lives.