Dr. Julie Stamm: Kids, Sports and the Brain

Kids, Sports and the Brain

“Sports have so many benefits for kids. We won’t prevent every injury, we’re not wrapping kids in bubble wrap. But we can make changes to eliminate impacts and protect the brain.”

If you’re a physician, parent, coach, or sports lover of any kind, this podcast episode will be valuable. Dr. Julie Stamm has spent over a decade studying and compiling a body of data featured in her brand new book called "The Brain on Youth Sports." It directly challenges a number of important and damaging myths about the brain and sports.

We talk about the reality of brain injury, how it occurs, with whom, under what conditions, gender factors, whether or not helmets help, what definitely does help kids who want to play sports stay safe, and very practical steps that need to be taken.

She’s not an ivory tower researcher, she loves sports and has done her research.

Biography:

Julie Stamm, PhD, is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She brings a unique perspective on the issues of repetitive head impacts in youth sports as a scientist and expert in the field, an anatomist with knowledge of childhood development throughout the body and the brain, and an athletic trainer who has provided medical care for athletes in a variety of sports. As an avid sports fan and a three-sport high school athlete from a small town in Wisconsin, she values the importance of sports participation for children. She earned her doctorate in anatomy and neurobiology from the Boston University School of Medicine and conducted research at the Boston University Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center and the Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Twitter: @JulieStammPhD

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Facebook: @JulieStammPhD