These genes hold the code for the ultimate production of proteins that control all functions of the brain, said researcher John Krystal, of the Yale University School of Medicine, in New Haven, Conn.

Krystal and colleagues obtained brain samples from the Brisbane Node of the National Health & Medical Research Council Brain Bank and the Tissue Resource Centre at the University of Sydney. They compared seven cirrhotic and 14 non-cirrhotic alcoholic cases and level of gene expression differed significantly between tissue from cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic alcoholics,

"A better understanding of the cellular processes related to the destructive impact of alcoholism upon the brain may help to guide the development of treatments that might protect people from neural damage related to alcoholism, and help them to recover from alcoholism," Krystal said in a statement.

The finding are published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.