Alcohol exposure during brain imaging did not alter the [AO > ApCO] BOLD contrast as a function of genotype, as it did with family history (see Kareken et al., 2010). In particular, AA genotypes responded more strongly than AGs on both days, irrespective of infusion type. There were, however, genotypic effects in the subjective response to alcohol during imaging, with the putatively higher risk AA subjects reporting a significantly lesser feeling of being ‘high’ (defined to subjects as ‘up, stimulated, feeling good’) than AG subjects. Although a similar relative relationship was apparent with the subjective response variable “Intoxicated” (defined as ‘drunk, inebriated, tipsy’), the difference was not statistically significant. The direction of the effect was similar to another study of GABRA2 effects by Pierucci-Lagha (2005), in which 7 homozygous low-risk subjects reported greater stimulant and gastrointestinal effects than 20 subjects with either one or two copies of the risk allele (but also see Lind et al., 2008 for a larger, negative study.).
