Genetic and neurogenetic variant‐level, gene‐level, and tissue‐specific analyses of sensation seeking, alcohol consumption, and AUD demonstrated both common and unique associations across these traits emphasising specific neurobiological pathways. Phenotypic correlations between sensation seeking and alcohol consumption, and alcohol consumption and AUD, though both influenced, in part, by genes implicated across mesocorticolimbic reward circuitry, may also reflect separable genetic architectures with unique neurobiological substrates. Taken together, observed associations support a biologically plausible, genetically mediated pathway from sensation seeking to heavy alcohol consumption to AUD development characterised by a progressive pattern of use consistent with neurobiological models of addiction.
