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Howard G. Smith, M.D. is a former radio medical editor and talk show host in the Boston Metro area. His "Medical Minute" of health and wellness news and commentary was a regular weekday feature on WBZ-AM, WRKO-AM, and WMRE-AM. His popular two-way talk show, Dr. Howard Smith OnCall, was regularly heard Sunday morning and middays on WBZ.

Dr. Smith has adopted audio and video podcasting as conduits for HEALTH NEWS YOU SHOULD USE. Based on the latest medical, health, and wellness literature these reports provide practical information you can use to keep yourself and your family healthy. Many reports have video versions, and Dr. Smith’s YouTube Channel may be found at: http://bit.ly/2rNw6XQ

Trained at Harvard Medical School and a long-time faculty member at Boston Children’s Hospital, he practiced Pediatric Otolaryngology for 40 years in Boston, Southern California, and in central Connecticut.  He is now based in New York City.

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Apr 5, 2019

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/k3ZHb9CeRFs

Playing organized team sports grows the hippocampus, the brain’s emotion and memory center, while reducing the incidence of adult depression.  This is the finding by neuroscientists at the Washington University-St. Louis.  

They studied a nationwide sample over over 4000 children 9 to 11 years of age using questionnaires to determine their participation in sports and their emotional outlook.  Each underwent MRI brain imaging to measure their hippocampal volumes. 

Participation in regular, organized team sports but not casual pickup games or non-sport activities such as music or art triggers hippocampal growth in both boys and girls.  The sports-playing boys but not the girls showed a notably reduced incidence of clinical depression later in life.

The authors caution that this observation is merely an association and not proof of cause and effect.  Even so, it underscores the value of participation in after-school athletics as long as they don’t trigger head injuries.

Lisa S. Gorham, Terry Jernigan, Jim Hudziak, Deanna M. Barch. Involvement in Sports, Hippocampal Volume, and Depressive Symptoms in Children. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.01.011

#Sports #teams #hippocampus #depression #music #art