A family history of alcoholism doubles the odds of developing alcoholism (Hasin et al., 1997; Nurnberger et al., 2004). While environmental influences exert considerable influence in early adolescence, twin studies show an increasingly larger genetic influence by age 18 (Dick, Rose, & Kaprio, 2006), with a family history of alcoholism being a significant factor in the transition from abusive to dependent drinking (Hasin, Paykin, & Endicott, 2001). This familial history also comprises particular neurobiological signatures, as those with a family history of alcoholism are more likely to have smaller electrophysiological responses to salient stimuli (Begleiter & Porjesz, 1999; Polich, Pollock, & Bloom, 1994) and greater beta power in resting EEG (Rangaswamy et al., 2004). More recently, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has shown the offspring of alcoholics to have smaller frontal responses to tasks requiring behavioral inhibition (Schweinsburg et al., 2004), a smaller amygdala response when perceiving fearful faces (Glahn, Lovallo, & Fox, 2007), smaller frontal and temporal responses when inferring others’ emotional states (Hill et al., 2007), and a larger response in the anterior cingulate and caudate during simulated
