Figure 5

Alcohol levels during withdrawal affect the severity of withdrawal. The number of unblocked (red) and blocked (blue) NMDARs at the synapse in response to various withdrawal patterns (green insets). The full time course is shown in (A). The remaining panels show only t > 400 hr, the region inside the dashed box in (A). The response is identical in all withdrawal schemes at t < 500 hr. Withdrawal was initiated at t = 500 hr in various patterns: (A) abrupt and complete cessation; (B) exponential decrease of alcohol; (C) gradual incremental decreases; (D) constant decrease from ½ maximum alcohol level; (E) constant decrease from ¾ maximum alcohol level; (F) constant decrease from maximum alcohol level.