Imaging techniques provide the opportunity to examine endophenotypes that are more proximal to the biological mechanisms that underlie risk for the development of alcohol use disorders. For example, the interplay of the mesocortical and mesolimbic structures represents a potential endophenotype for alcoholism, given that these structures are putatively associated with alcohol craving. An important advantage of the neuroimaging approach is the fact that the output does not rely on subjective reports of effect, which can induce a great deal of experimental variability. Measuring a more biologically based expression of the incentive salience of alcohol provides an objective means of defining the endophenotype.
