Darby Saxbe
@darbysaxbe.bsky.social
Professor of Psychology @ University of Southern California: neuroendocrinology of close relationships, particularly plasticity across the transition to parenthood. Writing the book _Dad Brain_ for Flatiron Books, about the neurobiology of fatherhood.
New essay on monogamy: why it evolved, why marriage is good for stable societies, and why young people (especially young women) might be losing interest in it. open.substack.com/pub/darbysax...
Monogamy is good, actually
How marriage evolved and why it stabilizes societies
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:32 PM
New essay on monogamy: why it evolved, why marriage is good for stable societies, and why young people (especially young women) might be losing interest in it. open.substack.com/pub/darbysax...
Reposted by Darby Saxbe
At #ISDP2025! 🧠 Catch my poster (P2.47) on sleep + cingulum white matter in first-time fathers.
Thanks to Quester for helping me get this poster organized! (www.quester.xn--tech)-sw3b @darbysaxbe.bsky.social
Thanks to Quester for helping me get this poster organized! (www.quester.xn--tech)-sw3b @darbysaxbe.bsky.social
November 14, 2025 at 12:23 AM
At #ISDP2025! 🧠 Catch my poster (P2.47) on sleep + cingulum white matter in first-time fathers.
Thanks to Quester for helping me get this poster organized! (www.quester.xn--tech)-sw3b @darbysaxbe.bsky.social
Thanks to Quester for helping me get this poster organized! (www.quester.xn--tech)-sw3b @darbysaxbe.bsky.social
My new essay this week is all about the unexpected twists and turns of the design process for the cover of my new forthcoming book...and includes some very silly rejected ideas. substack.com/home/post/p-...
BOOK COVER REVEAL!!!!
Plus all the cover ideas rejected along the way
substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:21 AM
My new essay this week is all about the unexpected twists and turns of the design process for the cover of my new forthcoming book...and includes some very silly rejected ideas. substack.com/home/post/p-...
It's true! We've written five of these one-day papers so far.
substack post from @darbysaxbe.bsky.social explaining how our lab is able to write a "Paper in a Day."
open.substack.com/pub/darbysax...
open.substack.com/pub/darbysax...
How my lab actually cranks out the science
Behind the scenes of our uber-productive writing days
open.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:13 AM
It's true! We've written five of these one-day papers so far.
My new essay describes our lab's research on how face masks affect the brain's processing of emotion.
darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/how-covid-...
darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/how-covid-...
How COVID masks messed with our minds
How the brain processes the emotional expressions of masked faces
darbysaxbe.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 8:24 PM
My new essay describes our lab's research on how face masks affect the brain's processing of emotion.
darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/how-covid-...
darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/how-covid-...
I just published my first piece with The Argument, and it's about why parents should let their kids go to the roller rink on their own.
You're not the captain of the parenting police www.theargumentmag.com/p/youre-not-...
You're not the captain of the parenting police www.theargumentmag.com/p/youre-not-...
You're not the captain of the parenting police
Let kids exist in public
www.theargumentmag.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:19 PM
I just published my first piece with The Argument, and it's about why parents should let their kids go to the roller rink on their own.
You're not the captain of the parenting police www.theargumentmag.com/p/youre-not-...
You're not the captain of the parenting police www.theargumentmag.com/p/youre-not-...
Massive turnout at the #NoKings protest in Pasadena. Calm, peaceful, multigenerational crowd. Patriotic signs and American flags everywhere. I’m still waiting for my check from Soros.
October 18, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Massive turnout at the #NoKings protest in Pasadena. Calm, peaceful, multigenerational crowd. Patriotic signs and American flags everywhere. I’m still waiting for my check from Soros.
Great crowd at USC for a rally celebrating our decision to say no to the Compact! A letter opposing the Compact was signed by 1500 members of our university community. @ryanboyd.bsky.social @aaup.org @sanjaymadhav1.bsky.social
October 17, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Great crowd at USC for a rally celebrating our decision to say no to the Compact! A letter opposing the Compact was signed by 1500 members of our university community. @ryanboyd.bsky.social @aaup.org @sanjaymadhav1.bsky.social
I wrote about whether universities are "too woke" and suffering from "ideological capture." darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/are-univer...
Are universities too woke to exist?
No, we should not defund all universities because of "ideological capture"
darbysaxbe.substack.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:03 AM
I wrote about whether universities are "too woke" and suffering from "ideological capture." darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/are-univer...
Reposted by Darby Saxbe
Our paper is finally out @darbysaxbe.bsky.social @genesisflores.bsky.social! Expectant fathers raised in riskier environments show lower white matter integrity in limbic regions and less effective parenting, even controlling for depressive symptoms. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Risky family environment, white matter organization, and effective parenting in expectant fathers | Development and Psychopathology | Cambridge Core
Risky family environment, white matter organization, and effective parenting in expectant fathers
www.cambridge.org
September 26, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Our paper is finally out @darbysaxbe.bsky.social @genesisflores.bsky.social! Expectant fathers raised in riskier environments show lower white matter integrity in limbic regions and less effective parenting, even controlling for depressive symptoms. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Darby Saxbe
The RCGD series on the Science of Social Relationships continues Monday with a talk from @darbysaxbe.bsky.social on the transition to fatherhood. The talk will review studies on hormone and brain changes across the transition to parenthood in first-time human fathers. buff.ly/92KtRNS
September 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The RCGD series on the Science of Social Relationships continues Monday with a talk from @darbysaxbe.bsky.social on the transition to fatherhood. The talk will review studies on hormone and brain changes across the transition to parenthood in first-time human fathers. buff.ly/92KtRNS
New essay today about how parents of the olden days were actually TERRIBLE, the phenomenon of "baby farming," and why intensive parenting is a modern invention. darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/the-bad-pa...
Terrible parents of yore
How intensive parenting became an aspirational status symbol
darbysaxbe.substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 5:18 PM
New essay today about how parents of the olden days were actually TERRIBLE, the phenomenon of "baby farming," and why intensive parenting is a modern invention. darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/the-bad-pa...
Really important and sobering analysis
So... I did some analysis of grants that did receive noncompetitive renewals.
In particular, I looked a those award where the title of the grant changed.
Warning: The results are just what I expected, but oooph...
1/4
In particular, I looked a those award where the title of the grant changed.
Warning: The results are just what I expected, but oooph...
1/4
a man with his eyes closed is wearing a plaid shirt and a blue jacket .
ALT: a man with his eyes closed is wearing a plaid shirt and a blue jacket .
media.tenor.com
September 10, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Really important and sobering analysis
The party of “viewpoint diversity” and “campus free speech” is back at it
Remind me again which party spent the last decade railing against so-called cancel culture?
Update: The Professor was fired, the Dean and Department Chair who (rightfully) defended her were removed from their positions, and every course at the University is now being subjected to a state audit.
archive.ph/2025.09.10-0...
archive.ph/2025.09.10-0...
September 10, 2025 at 2:46 PM
The party of “viewpoint diversity” and “campus free speech” is back at it
Reposted by Darby Saxbe
Our new study in Emotion!
Parents report higher satisfaction yet lower daily happiness- the 'parenting paradox'. So in the transition to parenthood, how do we study well-being? We studied how new fathers adapt by examining meaning/purpose and brain connectivity.
psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...
Parents report higher satisfaction yet lower daily happiness- the 'parenting paradox'. So in the transition to parenthood, how do we study well-being? We studied how new fathers adapt by examining meaning/purpose and brain connectivity.
psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
August 29, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Our new study in Emotion!
Parents report higher satisfaction yet lower daily happiness- the 'parenting paradox'. So in the transition to parenthood, how do we study well-being? We studied how new fathers adapt by examining meaning/purpose and brain connectivity.
psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...
Parents report higher satisfaction yet lower daily happiness- the 'parenting paradox'. So in the transition to parenthood, how do we study well-being? We studied how new fathers adapt by examining meaning/purpose and brain connectivity.
psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...
Reposted by Darby Saxbe
I often talk about the fact that MAGA does not access the same news as the left wing. I present to you Exhibit A.
Dr. Daskalakis’ resignation letter excoriated RFK Jr. and shared that RFK Jr. was lying to the public, manipulating data, and ordering unethical actions.
This what Fox News served.
Dr. Daskalakis’ resignation letter excoriated RFK Jr. and shared that RFK Jr. was lying to the public, manipulating data, and ordering unethical actions.
This what Fox News served.
August 28, 2025 at 11:14 PM
I often talk about the fact that MAGA does not access the same news as the left wing. I present to you Exhibit A.
Dr. Daskalakis’ resignation letter excoriated RFK Jr. and shared that RFK Jr. was lying to the public, manipulating data, and ordering unethical actions.
This what Fox News served.
Dr. Daskalakis’ resignation letter excoriated RFK Jr. and shared that RFK Jr. was lying to the public, manipulating data, and ordering unethical actions.
This what Fox News served.
Reposted by Darby Saxbe
🧠 Thanks to research from @darbysaxbe.bsky.social we know fatherhood transforms men’s brains in profound ways, and many dads face postpartum depression, sleep challenges and stigma.
🔗 Read more about how we can support new fathers in #ECM2025: earlychildhoodmatters.online/2025/dad-bra...
🔗 Read more about how we can support new fathers in #ECM2025: earlychildhoodmatters.online/2025/dad-bra...
“Dad brain” is real - Early Childhood Matters
Parenting changes men’s bodies and brains in profound ways, impacting everything from their brain structure to hormones to their mental health and sense of identity. We call this period of rapid adjus...
earlychildhoodmatters.online
August 28, 2025 at 10:42 AM
🧠 Thanks to research from @darbysaxbe.bsky.social we know fatherhood transforms men’s brains in profound ways, and many dads face postpartum depression, sleep challenges and stigma.
🔗 Read more about how we can support new fathers in #ECM2025: earlychildhoodmatters.online/2025/dad-bra...
🔗 Read more about how we can support new fathers in #ECM2025: earlychildhoodmatters.online/2025/dad-bra...
Reposted by Darby Saxbe
Reps and Dems are living in different societies...
Report linked in comments.
Report linked in comments.
August 26, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reps and Dems are living in different societies...
Report linked in comments.
Report linked in comments.
Reposted by Darby Saxbe
This is a wild ride of a read for all kinds of reasons. Researchers and people who read about research on the internet should all find some valuable stuff in here. The incidental note that THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF OBJECTS ON A TYPICAL FRIDGE IS 55 is just the icing on the cake for me.
This week I wrote about how my research on stress, cortisol, and clutter got misinterpreted by the media and ended up in the AI slop factory. darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/cogsplaine...
I met my AI doppelganger and it got weird
How my clutter cortisol study took on a life of its own
darbysaxbe.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
This is a wild ride of a read for all kinds of reasons. Researchers and people who read about research on the internet should all find some valuable stuff in here. The incidental note that THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF OBJECTS ON A TYPICAL FRIDGE IS 55 is just the icing on the cake for me.
This week I wrote about how my research on stress, cortisol, and clutter got misinterpreted by the media and ended up in the AI slop factory. darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/cogsplaine...
I met my AI doppelganger and it got weird
How my clutter cortisol study took on a life of its own
darbysaxbe.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 6:43 PM
This week I wrote about how my research on stress, cortisol, and clutter got misinterpreted by the media and ended up in the AI slop factory. darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/cogsplaine...
Reposted by Darby Saxbe
🎙️ON AIR:
@faith-hill.bsky.social, Fatherhood and Adolescent Services' Ignacio Ferrey, @menhavingbabies.bsky.social's Ron Poole-Dayan, @darbysaxbe.bsky.social and therapist Ken Epstein on single fatherhood.
❓ Are you a single dad or were you raised by one? What's your story?
📻 Listen:
@faith-hill.bsky.social, Fatherhood and Adolescent Services' Ignacio Ferrey, @menhavingbabies.bsky.social's Ron Poole-Dayan, @darbysaxbe.bsky.social and therapist Ken Epstein on single fatherhood.
❓ Are you a single dad or were you raised by one? What's your story?
📻 Listen:
Single Fathers Are a Growing, But Often Invisible, Demographic | KQED
We look at the experience of single fatherhood and hear from you: are you a single dad or were you raised by one? What's your story?
buff.ly
August 26, 2025 at 4:02 PM
🎙️ON AIR:
@faith-hill.bsky.social, Fatherhood and Adolescent Services' Ignacio Ferrey, @menhavingbabies.bsky.social's Ron Poole-Dayan, @darbysaxbe.bsky.social and therapist Ken Epstein on single fatherhood.
❓ Are you a single dad or were you raised by one? What's your story?
📻 Listen:
@faith-hill.bsky.social, Fatherhood and Adolescent Services' Ignacio Ferrey, @menhavingbabies.bsky.social's Ron Poole-Dayan, @darbysaxbe.bsky.social and therapist Ken Epstein on single fatherhood.
❓ Are you a single dad or were you raised by one? What's your story?
📻 Listen:
Reposted by Darby Saxbe
TUE at 9AM:
@faith-hill.bsky.social, Fatherhood and Adolescent Services' Ignacio Ferrey, @menhavingbabies.bsky.social's Ron Poole-Dayan, @darbysaxbe.bsky.social and therapist Ken Epstein on the experience of single fatherhood.
❓ Are you a single dad or were you raised by one? What's your story?
@faith-hill.bsky.social, Fatherhood and Adolescent Services' Ignacio Ferrey, @menhavingbabies.bsky.social's Ron Poole-Dayan, @darbysaxbe.bsky.social and therapist Ken Epstein on the experience of single fatherhood.
❓ Are you a single dad or were you raised by one? What's your story?
The Growing Cohort of Single Dads by Choice
For some men, fatherhood is an answer to questions about modern masculinity.
buff.ly
August 26, 2025 at 1:00 AM
TUE at 9AM:
@faith-hill.bsky.social, Fatherhood and Adolescent Services' Ignacio Ferrey, @menhavingbabies.bsky.social's Ron Poole-Dayan, @darbysaxbe.bsky.social and therapist Ken Epstein on the experience of single fatherhood.
❓ Are you a single dad or were you raised by one? What's your story?
@faith-hill.bsky.social, Fatherhood and Adolescent Services' Ignacio Ferrey, @menhavingbabies.bsky.social's Ron Poole-Dayan, @darbysaxbe.bsky.social and therapist Ken Epstein on the experience of single fatherhood.
❓ Are you a single dad or were you raised by one? What's your story?
Yes it's actually good that we have fMRI to know this, because men's parental bond has been understudied & essentialist narratives continue to insist that only women have "maternal instinct." Showing how the male brain responds to infant stimuli helps us appreciate human adaptations to fatherhood!
Whew, glad we have fMRI to know this.
First-time fathers show distinct brain responses to their own babies
August 21, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Yes it's actually good that we have fMRI to know this, because men's parental bond has been understudied & essentialist narratives continue to insist that only women have "maternal instinct." Showing how the male brain responds to infant stimuli helps us appreciate human adaptations to fatherhood!
Thank you for spotlighting our lab's new study, led by the indefatigable @philnewsomejr.bsky.social !
First-time fathers show distinct brain responses to their own babies
First-time fathers show distinct brain responses to their own babies
New research sheds light on how fatherhood affects the brain. First-time dads showed stronger neural responses to their own babies—especially in areas linked to social and emotional processing—compared to unfamiliar infants or partners. These responses also tracked with bonding and stress.
www.psypost.org
August 21, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Thank you for spotlighting our lab's new study, led by the indefatigable @philnewsomejr.bsky.social !
Reposted by Darby Saxbe
👀 New "dad brain" research from @darbysaxbe.bsky.social; Darby Saxbe will join RCGD's fall seminar series on the science of social relationships-- with a talk on the transition to fatherhood 9/29. Check out the series that kicks off next week! rcgd.isr.umich.edu/news-events/...
August 20, 2025 at 9:52 PM
👀 New "dad brain" research from @darbysaxbe.bsky.social; Darby Saxbe will join RCGD's fall seminar series on the science of social relationships-- with a talk on the transition to fatherhood 9/29. Check out the series that kicks off next week! rcgd.isr.umich.edu/news-events/...