The focus of alcohol challenge studies has been to investigate the effects of alcohol on normal brain function, as assessed by various electrophysiological measures obtained at rest, and while engaged in sensory or cognitive tasks. These studies have also been very useful in examining whether naïve offspring of alcoholics who are at high risk (HR) respond differently to alcohol than offspring of non-alcoholics at low risk (LR), revealing an underlying neural liability with exposure to alcohol. No differences have been reported between HR and LR subjects in the uptake and clearance of alcohol in the blood on the blood alcohol curve (Newlin and Thomson, 1990). Past and current longitudinal studies have shown that a low level of response to alcohol predicted later heavier drinking and mediated a disposition for developing AUDs (Schuckit, 1994; Volavka et al., 1996; Trim et al., 2009). A meta-analysis suggests that a diminished response to alcohol is more frequently seen in family history-positive (FHP)/HR compared with family history-negative (FHN)/LR subjects (Pollock, 1992), but not all studies concur (see Newlin and Thomson, 1990, for review).
