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Deadly drug overdoses among U.S. teenagers have more than doubled in frequency in recent years, even as those in the age group became less likely to use illegal drugs, researchers

Jayhawks honored in showcase of Kansas research

Poverty and crime can have devastating effects on a child's health. But a new study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that some environmental factors influence the structure and function of young brains even before babies make their entrances into the world.

The findings underscore the fact that teens face serious danger from the kinds of drugs circulating in the U.S., including fentanyl.

Infants born to mothers living in poverty have smaller volumes of gray and white matter across the entire brain. Additionally, babies born to mothers who live in high crime areas showed differences in brain activity to those whose mothers lived in safer areas. Those born to mothers who experienced crime had weaker neural connections between brain areas that control and process emotions. Maternal stress, researchers say, could be a main factor in the differences in neuroanatomy and brain connectivity.