Dad Brain

Darby Saxbe’s deeply researched and entertaining book fills a crucial gap in our understanding … with a refreshing new take on fatherhood through the lens of neurology and hormones … a call to appreciate fathers and to bust the stereotypes of fathers as clueless or uncaring … Ultimately, [Saxbe’s] cause is not just to explain the new science of the Dad brain: she also urges us to think more broadly about masculinity – Camilla Cavendish * Financial Times *
A compelling exploration of fatherhood, showing why it is both crucial and too often overlooked … many unexpected details … Saxbe has the expertise and makes a strong case … interesting, well-written and rigorous … Dads deserve attention too, Saxbe convincingly argues. This book is for fathers and anyone who cares about them * New Scientist *
Wonderful … Dad Brain is probably the most I have related to anything I have watched, listened to or read since … I met my own amazing, screaming, teeny-tiny baby daughter … I like Saxbe’s book chiefly because it tells us why becoming a dad is so incredibly good for you – and, specifically, your brain – Sam Fishwick * Independent *
Saxbe wants to debunk the stereotype that parenting does not come naturally to men and … takes particular aim at the myth that they “lack the biology for it” … [She shows that] intention and hands-on time with a child mean that a father’s level of involvement – and the biology that influences how good a dad they are – can be turned up or down like a dial * Sunday Times *
This is the difference that is at the core of Saxbe’s fascinating book. Motherhood is obligatory. You can’t escape a kid that is inside you. Fatherhood, though? It is “facultative”. It’s “an optional but very useful adaptation”. And when you choose that option, when you eschew the sports car and start listening to the contractions again, your body responds in more subtle — but no less significant — ways. That day, in a biological as well as psychological sense, [you] become a dad – Tom Whipple * The Times *
So impressive… Society needs men to be good fathers. It starts with a willingness, as Saxbe puts it, “to debunk outdated stereotypes that paint dads as lazy, clueless, or uncaring”. Dad Brain does that brilliantly * Critic *
[An] accessible account of the latest science of fatherhood … fun … interesting … valuable * Literary Review *
In this entertaining and fascinating book, Darby Saxbe unpacks how fatherhood transforms men’s lives, from their brains to their careers. It’s a must-read for everyone who values the importance of dads – Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play
A wonderful book about the biology of fatherhood and an important text about parenthood from an accomplished scientist – Antonio Damasio, author of Descartes’ Error
An eye-opening exploration of fatherhood and its impact on a child’s life – and on a partnership, a family and society at large – Aliza Pressman, author of The Five Principles of Parenting

Darby Saxbe is a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Southern California. Her research includes one of the world’s only longitudinal studies on men’s brains as they become fathers. A former Fulbright fellow, she has published over eighty scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and written for publications such as the New York Times and Scientific American. Saxbe has earned awards from the American Psychological Association and the Society for Research in Child Development.

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