for alcoholism prior to alcohol exposure (Begleiter et al., 1984; Viana-Wackermann et al., 2007), AAU may also reduce P300 amplitude. This scenario represents an alternative, environmentally based explanation for why P3AR is often associated with risk for alcohol misuse in alcohol exposed adolescents. Evidence that P3AR indexes neurotoxic effects of AAU would challenge the utility of P3AR as an endophenotype given the high frequency of AAU reported in epidemiological surveys (Brown, et al., 2008; Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2007).
