Scientists May Have Figured Out A Way To Cure Alcoholism By Firing Lasers At Your Brain

Alcoholism can be as bad an addiction as drugs like cocaine and heroin. Not only can it have dozens of bad effects on your body, it can also drain your finances and cause emotional trauma to your family. Now, researchers are trying to find an easy "cure" for it.

Rehab and therapy is inarguably the best way to get rid of an addiction, but what if you could simply get rid of the craving entirely with science? That's what scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in California want to do.

Through their research, they say they've found a way to reverse rats' dependency on alcohol by firing lasers at particular neurons in their brains. They said the change is like the "flip of a switch".

"What is so exciting about these findings is that we were able to control the motivation to drink alcohol in severely dependent individuals with the flip of a switch," Scripps professor Olivier George, told Digital Trends. "By implanting fiber optics deep in the brain and turning on a laser that inhibits these neurons specifically we could dramatically decrease alcohol drinking and the physical symptoms of withdrawal."

In their studies, they were able to identify particular bunches of neurons that deep in the brain that are activated when you go through alcohol withdrawal, as well as the downstream pathways from these neurons that trigger addiction-like behaviors in your brain.

Unfortunately, it's not that easy for alcoholics just yet. Though this is huge progress, George believes they have a lot of work to do before they can use something like this on humans.

"This work requires the use of cutting-edge technologies that are not approved to be used in humans yet so it may take 15 to 30 years before we see alcoholics with brain implants that help them control their craving," he said.