Another physiological vulnerability for the development of AUDs is neurocognitive and neurophysiological abnormalities in COAs (see Tapert & Schweinsburg, 2005 for a review). For example, attention and cognitive processing are assessed by measuring brain-evoked potentials, electrical signals produced by the brain in response to a stimulus. Studies investigating the link between the P300 event-related potential (ERP) and risk for AUDs in youth have found reduced amplitudes in children with a family history of alcoholism (e.g., Begleiter, Porjesz, Bihari, & Kissin, 1984; Hill & Steinhauer, 1993). Cloniniger (1987) purports that these reduced amplitudes are indicative of an inability to distinguish novel stimuli from a set of common stimuli. Moreover, they are associated with stimulation of the dopaminergic pathways and reflective of novelty-seeking and impulsivity, heritable traits often associated with risk for alcoholism (Cloninger 1987).
