The present study examined the effects of genetic variation within the GABRA2 gene region on the subjective effects of alcohol in healthy social drinkers. Differing from previous studies that used an oral challenge, we evaluated the effects of several SNPs within the region and their haplotypes on the subjective responses to alcohol. In addition, as opposed to the i.v. paradigm, we used a within-session, cumulative oral alcohol dosing procedure that more closely approximates real-world alcohol consumption (Morean and Corbin, 2010; Quinn and Fromme, 2011). Based on the previous studies, we hypothesized that individuals with GABRA2 variants shown to be associated with AD would have lower subjective responses to alcohol.
