New parents likely know well the concept of "mommy brain" — the notion that forgetfulness and memory loss accompany the birth of a baby, implying mom is so overwhelmed she suffers cognitive decline. But "daddy brain" isn't really a neologism in the same way, which attests to the way that "mommy brain" can sometimes evoke a sexist stereotype of the doddering, forgetful new mother.
Yet according to scientists, mommy brain isn't actually a real thing — at least, not in the way our culture conceives of it. Research into how motherhood affects the human female brain reveals that this idea is mostly fiction.
