Although the functional and psychopathologic consequences of hemispheric differences remain uncertain, these findings emphasize the importance of the lateralization of the limbic lobe in the pathophysiology of risk for AUD as well as in disorders that are frequently observed in the offspring of alcoholics. It is possible that differences in the hemispheric lateralization of the OFC in a number of psychiatric disorders reflect a failure to regulate the amygdala and hence a vulnerability to over and under-controlled behaviors.
