Ultimately, understanding how genes affect behavioral pathways and neural systems will be particularly important in future studies of offspring of alcoholics and other disorders that may share a common genetic diathesis. Even though the processes by which genetic variations influence brain structure and function remain elusive, it appears that neurotrophic factors are likely targets for future research given the pre-existing morphological differences in those at elevated risk for AUD. GABA is particularly influential in the signaling of growth factors like BDNF and other neuronal growth-associated proteins during neural maturation. Since the development of the human brain proceeds through a series of stages, understanding the nature and activity of growth factors during these periods in brain development will be crucial to understanding the structural and functional outcomes that are often used as the dependent variables in neuroimaging genetics studies of risk for psychiatric disorders.
