Lead author Dr. Subhash Pandey of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine said one day doctors may be be able to control alcohol addiction by manipulating molecular events in the brain that underlie anxiety associated with alcohol withdrawal.

Previous research has shown that people with inherently high levels of anxiety are at increased risk of becoming alcoholics and withdrawal of alcohol in chronic users is often accompanied by extreme anxiety.

The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that a protein within neurons in the amygdala -- the area of the brain associated with emotion and anxiety -- controls the development of alcohol withdrawal symptoms and drinking behaviors in laboratory animals by changing the neurons' shape. This change affects the communication between neurons, leading to behavior changes.

"This is the first direct evidence of the molecular processes occurring in the neurons that is responsible for the co-morbidity of anxiety and alcoholism, which we believe plays a major role in the addictive nature of alcohol," Pandey said in a statement.