The leader of the research, Dr Andreas Bartsch from the University of
Wuerzburg, Germany, said: “The core message from this study is that,
for alcoholics, abstinence pays off and enables the brain to regain
some substance and to perform better. However, our research also
provides evidence that the longer you drink excessively, the more you
risk losing this capacity for regeneration. Therefore, alcoholics must
not put off the time when they decide to seek help and stop drinking;
the sooner they do it, the better.”