Experimental approaches to the evaluation of alcohol abuse and dependence development.

In rats, a complex longitudinal analysis of alcohol intake behaviour and electrophysiological sleep pattern was performed during different periods of stable voluntary alcohol consumption. By the sleep pattern, the existence of alcohol abuse and dependence development could be confirmed. Acute ethanol withdrawal was shown to be the obligatory and necessary element in alcohol abuse and dependence evaluation. The proposed behavioural and sleep pattern models might be used in the search for anti-alcoholic drugs in combination with the study of alcoholic aging processes.