Abstract
The sons of alcoholics have repeatedly been found to have reduced P300 amplitude. Further, quantitative behavioral genetic and molecular genetic studies indicating a genetic influence on P300 amplitude have fueled speculation that this component may be a biological vulnerability marker for alcoholism. To further explore this possibility, we examined P300 in adolescent twin pairs from an epidemiological sample who were (a) discordant for alcohol abuse/dependence, (b) concordant for alcohol abuse/dependence, or (c) concordant for the absence of alcohol abuse/dependence and other relevant disorders. For discordant pairs, the alcohol abusing/dependent twins' amplitude did not differ from that of non-alcoholic co-twins. Pairs free of psychopathology had greater amplitudes than both alcoholism discordant and concordant pairs. P300 amplitude was more similar in monozygotic than dizygotic discordant pairs, suggesting a genetic influence on P300 amplitude in this group. The findings are consistent with P300 amplitude being a marker of vulnerability to alcohol use disorders.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 203-227 |
Number of pages | 25 |
Journal | Biological Psychology |
Volume | 61 |
Issue number | 1-2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 1 2002 |
Keywords
- Alcohol abuse/dependence
- Biological markers
- Discordant twins
- Endophenotype
- P300 amplitude