Much of the body runs on autopilot. Think about your heartbeat, digestive system or blood pressure, or even your fight-or-flight response when you're stressed or in danger. This pilot is called the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). One of the largest nerves contained in this system is the Vagus Nerve. It's responsible for making sure your body functions smoothly without you having to think about it.

Beginning at conception, a timeline of creation builds the ANS as well as the organs, muscles and other parts of the body it connects to. The authors of this study were able to determine what happens when opioids are introduced to this process.

Wouldn’t it be great if researchers collaborated with parents and caregivers just like you? The people who live with these resilient children day in and day out? That’s exactly what the authors of this study did. And by analyzing the data they collected, we can see trends in the developmental outcomes of opioid exposed children, who have transitioned from preschool to grade school and beyond.

What can be learned when 26 hospitals move from using the Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring Tool, to assess the severity of neonatal opioid withdrawal, to a newer function-based approach — the Eat, Sleep, Console care approach?

Does prenatal exposure to opioids, specifically Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), affect the visual functioning of school children? Yes, it does. And whether mom was treated with methadone or buprenorphine makes a difference.