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Alcohol and Alcoholism Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 332-338, 2003
© 2003 Medical Council on Alcohol

EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL RESPONSES TO ALCOHOL-RELATED STIMULI IN AFRICAN–AMERICAN YOUNG ADULTS: RELATION TO FAMILY HISTORY OF ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG USAGE

Cindy L. Ehlers*, Evelyn Phillips, Antonio Sweeny and Craig J. Slawecki

Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA

Received 11 September 2002; in revised form 30 January 2003; accepted 6 March 2003

Aims: To use event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the response to alcohol-related stimuli in African–American young adults. Methods: ERPs to an object recognition task, that included pictures of objects, food and alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related drinks as stimuli, were obtained in 81 African–American young adult men and women (18–25 years old) without a personal history of alcohol dependence. Information on: psychiatric diagnoses, personal drinking and drug use history, and familial history of alcoholism was also obtained. Results: Family history was found to be associated with lowered P3 components and higher N1 components in response to the non-alcohol-related drinks. Additionally, an exploratory analyses revealed that lower amplitude N1 components were generated in response to alcohol-related stimuli in regular marijuana users compared with non-regular users. No associations of N1 or P3 amplitudes with conduct disorder symptoms or current drinking status were found in this population. Conclusions: These studies demonstrated that family history is significantly and selectively associated with lower P3 amplitudes in this group of young adult men and women of African–American heritage. Additionally, current usage of marijuana and alcohol do not modify P3 amplitudes. However, regular marijuana use may diminish N1 response to alcohol-related stimuli, whereas, family history of alcoholism may augment N1 responses. Taken together these studies further suggest that ERPs can provide specific information on alcoholism risk as well as use of other misused drugs.


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