The finding of reduced P3b in alcoholics derives mostly from clinical populations of treated alcoholics (and from their offspring). The danger of generalizing from clinical samples to all alcoholics has been demonstrated repeatedly by our group and others (di Sclafani et al., 2008; Fein et al., 2002; Fein and Landman, 2005; Fein et al., 2006b; O'Neill et al., 2001). Treatment-naïve actively drinking alcohol dependent individuals (TNAD) are active drinkers who meet criteria for current alcohol dependence, but who have neither sought nor received any form of alcoholism treatment. Since such untreated individuals make up the majority of alcoholics (U.S. Alcohol Epidemiologic Data Reference Manual Volume 8, 2006), further studies on TNAD are critical for advancing our understanding of alcoholism.
