CLEVELAND -- There may be a new reason for recovering alcoholics to stay on the wagon.

NewsChannel5 reported a study in rats shows that new brain cells form and possibly repair others during abstinence.

In fact, researchers writing in the Journal of Neuroscience showed that the rats had a burst of brain cell growth as fast as a week after abstinence began.

"There are new brain cells formed in (the) brain -- that in fact make more neurons in the brain and we believe that those neurons play a role in the recovery of brain function,” said Fulton Crews of the University of North Carolina.

Researchers are still working on figuring out what the new brain cells do.

For more information, go to www.sciencecentral.com.