CF 377: Neuroplastic Responses to Chiropractic Care & Screen Time And Depression Today we’re going to talk about Neuroplastic Responses to Chiropractic Care & Screen Time And Depression But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music

Purchase Dr. Williams’s book, a perfect educational tool and chiropractic research reference for the daily practitioner, from the Amazon store TODAY!

OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are giving evidence-based chiropractic a little personality and making it profitable. We’re not the stuffy, judgemental, elitist, puffing on a pipe, pretentious kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers. So grab you a 12-er.  I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast.  I’m so glad you’re spending your time with me and we’re learning together.  Chiropractors – I’m hiring at my personal clinic. I need talent, ambition, smarts, personality, and easy to get along with associates. If this is you and Amarillo, TX is your speed, send me an email at [email protected] Things you should do. 

You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #377 Now if you missed last week’s episode, we talked about Acupuncture For Chronic Low Bac k And Spinal Manipulative Therapy for Acute Neck Pain Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class. 

On the personal end of things….. I just recently returned from the Academy Of Shockwave Excellence Masterclass out in Atlanta, GA and now, I’m a master in Shockwave.  In case you are wondering, I started on this path and journey because of my Mastermind group that you always hear me talking about. Two of our members are instructors and masters in Shockwave. Dr. Ben Fergus in Evanston, IL and Dr. David Rudnick from Boynton Beach, FL.  These two guys are freaks on the. Shockwave and they BOTH use Kinas radial and focused shockwave units. So, I ordered Kinas, then attended the Masterclass, and now, I’m up and running and pissing some excellence. 

If you are entertaining the thought of getting shockwave, I want you to send me an email at [email protected] and let’s talk about it. It is my understanding that this is the only group that has a materclass academy that really gets you and your staff trained. If you just get a manual from the manufacturer and don’t really get traning, then this is your group. I encourage you to get going on it. Send me an email and I’ll point you the right direction. [email protected]

Item #1 Our first one is called “Role of Sleep and White Matter in the Link Between Screen Time and Depression in Childhood and Early Adolescence” by Santos et al published in JAMA Pediatrics on September 1, 2025 and it’s hotter than Angelina.  Remember, the citations can be found at chiropracticforward.com under this episode. 

Lima Santos JP, Soehner AM, Biernesser CL, Ladouceur CD, Versace A. Role of Sleep and White Matter in the Link Between Screen Time and Depression in Childhood and Early Adolescence. JAMA Pediatr. 2025 Sep 1;179(9):1000-1008. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.1718. PMID: 40549406; PMCID: PMC12186512.

Why They Did It To identify the association between screen time during late childhood and depressive symptoms in early adolescence, and to investigate whether these associations are mediated by sleep duration and white matter organization.

How They Did It Prospective study was conducted from January 2024 to June 2024.  Data from the Adolescent Behavior Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study were used  Children and their parent/caregiver were recruited across 21 US cities.  Participants with no past/current psychiatric disorders were selected for analyses.  Outcomes included screen time assessed using a self-report questionnaire, sleep duration assessed using the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire, and depressive symptoms characterized using the Child Behavior Checklist.  Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging and a tract profile approach were used to characterize the orientation dispersion index of 3 white matter tracts that are known to be implicated with depression: cingulum bundle, forceps minor, and uncinate fasciculus. Analyses included 976 participants

What They Found Each additional hour of daily screen time at T1 (defined as aged 9-10 years old) was associated with a 0.12-point increase in Child Behavior Checklist depressive score at T2 (defined as aged 11-13 years old).  Shorter sleep duration and worse cingulum bundle organization at T2 mediated 36.4% of the association between more screen time and more depressive symptoms.

Wrap It Up Results of this study show that more screen time in late childhood was associated with more depressive symptoms, potentially due to shorter sleep and worse white matter organization during early adolescence.  These findings emphasize the importance of promoting healthy habits and balancing screen time with adequate sleep.

Item #2 Our last one today is called, “Neuroplastic Responses to Chiropractic Care: Broad Impacts on Pain, Mood, Sleep, and Quality of Life” by Haavik et al and published in Brain Science in 2024. 

Haavik, H.; Niazi, I.K.; Amjad, I.; Kumari, N.; Ghani, U.; Ashfaque, M.; Rashid, U.; Navid, M.S.; Kamavuako, E.N.; Pujari, A.N.; et al. Neuroplastic Responses to Chiropractic Care: Broad Impacts on Pain, Mood, Sleep, and Quality of Life. Brain Sci. 2024, 14, 1124. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14111124

What This Study Found: Chiropractic Care and Brain Changes This 2025 research paper looked at how chiropractic care (spinal adjustments) affects the brain, particularly focusing on people with chronic lower back pain. Here’s what they discovered, explained simply:

The Main Question: The researchers wanted to understand how chiropractic care works in the brain. They knew it helped people feel better, but they wanted to see what was actually changing in the brain itself.

What They Did: The study recruited 122 participants with chronic low back pain and gave them chiropractic care approximately three times per week for four week.s They used brain scans (EEG), measured nerve responses, tracked sleep with Fitbit devices, and asked people about their quality of life.

The Big Discovery: The researchers found that chiropractic care changed how a specific brain network called the “Default Mode Network” (DMN) functions. Think of the DMN as the part of your brain that’s active when you’re daydreaming, thinking about yourself, or reflecting on your life. Chronic problems, such as chronic musculoskeletal pain, as well as common chronic disorders such as anxiety and depression have been found to have clear deficits in access, engagement and disengagement of the DMN

Why This Matters: It is thought that when suffering is ongoing long-term the feelings of pain may become part of one’s internal self-story, and, similarly, ongoing worry can develop into anxiety and ongoing sadness can become depression. In other words, chronic pain can literally become part of your identity.

What Improved: After four weeks of chiropractic care, participants showed:

The Bottom Line:

The current findings provide compelling evidence for why chiropractic care, that includes the HVLA adjustments directed towards subluxated segments, can impact not only chronic pain symptoms, but also influence anxiety and depression symptoms.  The study suggests that chiropractic adjustments don’t just help with pain directly—they actually change how your brain processes sensory information and how you think about yourself and your pain, which can break the cycle of chronic pain becoming part of your identity. This research helps explain why some people with chronic pain find relief through chiropractic care and why that relief extends beyond just physical symptoms to include mental health improvements.

Alright, that’s it. Keep on keepin’ on. Keep changing our profession from your corner of the world. The world needs evidence-based, patient-centered practitioners driving the bus. The profession needs us in the ACA and involved in leadership of state associations. So quit griping about the profession if you’re doing nothing to make it better. Get active, get involved, and make it happen. Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week. 

Store Remember the evidence-informed brochures and posters at chiropracticforward.com.         

Purchase Dr. Williams’s book, a perfect educational tool and chiropractic research reference for the daily practitioner, from the Amazon store TODAY!

The Message I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots. When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few. It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient. And, if the patient treats preventatively after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!

Key Point: At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints…. That’s Chiropractic!

Contact Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes.  Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms.  We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference. 

Connect We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.

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About the Author & Host Dr. Jeff Williams – Fellow of the International Academy of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (FIANM) and Board Certified Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Professionals (DABFP) – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger        

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