In addition, children and adolescents from alcoholic families demonstrate reduced right amygdala volumes (Hill et al., 2001). Parts of the limbic system, and specifically the amygdala, have been indentified as critical in P300 generation. Since the amygdala is involved in the execution and inhibition of emotional behavior, it is hypothesized that these neurophysiological differences are indicative of vulnerability for alcohol use and dependence because of cortical disinhibition, or hyperexcitability, in the central nervous system (Begleiter & Porjesz 1999). Although the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA; 1997) notes that these abnormalities may be indicative of more global neurological and cognitive developmental differences, some research does show that low P300 amplitude in young children is predictive of alcohol and other substance abuse in adolescence (Berman, Whipple, Fitch, & Noble, 1993; Hill, Steinhauer, Lowers, & Locke 1995).
