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Five distinct sleep patterns are tied to your health, lifestyle, cognition and even how different regions of your brain connect to one another, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Biology. (Leake, 10/8)

A new study suggests the brain physically adapts to rely on alcohol to relieve stress and anxiety, creating a powerful feedback loop that makes quitting drinking extremely difficult. Researchers at Scripps Research identified a set of brain cells that become more active when drinkers start associating alcohol with relief from withdrawal. The finding pinpoints a biological mechanism behind addiction, offering more evidence that alcoholism is not just about pleasure or willpower but about deep changes in brain function. (Delandro, 10/8)

Researchers at University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University recently carried out a study aimed at further investigating the processes through which maternal infections during pregnancy could increase the risk that offspring will develop schizophrenia later in life. Schizophrenia is a typically debilitating mental health condition characterized by hallucinations, false beliefs about oneself or the world (e.g., delusions) and cognitive impairments. (Fadelli, 10/6)

Research led by the University of Michigan's Kresge Hearing Research Institute and the University of Rochester illuminates the mechanisms through which humans can pick out and focus on single sounds in noisy environments. Previous studies had established that this ability to filter sound, called "selective attention," involved the auditory cortex of the brain. (10/6)

An international team of researchers today reported promising results from a phase 1 trial of a novel vaccine designed to protect against typhoid fever and non-typhoidal Salmonella infections. (Dall, 10/8)