Drinking alcohol over a long period of time profoundly（深刻地，极度地） affects the brain, which adapts to the intoxicant（醉人的） and causes withdrawal symptoms（脱瘾症状，断除症状） when consumption stops. Neuroscientists from the University of Southampton's School of Biological Sciences investigated alcohol dependency and withdrawal using tiny 1mm long C. elegans（线虫） worms. Despite the worm's evolutionary distance from humans, and very simple brain of just 302 nerve cells, it exhibits similar alcohol-dependent behaviours.

The research showed that withdrawal symptoms could be relieved（减轻，解除） by small doses of alcohol. However, easing the effects can increase dependency.

In humans, the symptoms are manifested（显示，证明） in anxiety（焦虑，渴望） , agitation（搅动，煽动） and, in extreme cases, seizures. The worms, as video footage（镜头，片段） shows, also became overactive in alcohol withdrawal and showed spontaneous（自发的，自然的） and deep body bends – a behaviour rarely seen in ' teetotal（完全的，滴酒不沾的） ' worms.

Professor Lindy Holden-Dye, a neuroscientist of the University's School of Biological Sciences and member of Southampton Neurosciences Group (SoNG), led the study. She comments: "This research showed the worms displaying effects of the withdrawal of alcohol and enables us to define how alcohol affects signalling in nerve circuits which leads to changes in behaviour."

Funding for the research came from a joint Medical Research Council/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council initiative in the 'Neurobiology of Mental Health'.

The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, also showed evidence that a particular class of brain-signalling molecule, the neuropeptide（神经肽） , is required for the chronic effect of alcohol on the worm's nervous system.

Professor Holden-Dye adds: "Neuropeptides are also involved in chronic alcohol effects in humans and this is leading to new ideas for the treatment of alcoholism, but their precise role is unclear. Our study provides a very effective experimental system to tackle（处理，抓住） this problem."