title: Pattern reversal visual evoked potential among men at risk for alcoholism.
abstract: The biological sons of male alcoholics, deemed to be at high risk (HR) for the development of alcoholism, were compared to control males, aged 18 to 21, using measures of the visual evoked potential elicited by checkerboard pattern reversal. Overall, the HR and control groups were not distinguished on the basis of visual evoked potential measures acquired from the occipital scalp region; however, when comparisons were restricted to right-handed subjects, the HR subjects showed more symmetry in a positive component with approximate latency of 242 ms compared with control subjects. The results are discussed in relation to hemispheric differences and alcoholism.
authors.affiliation: Psykologisk Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: V E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Pollock
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Volavka
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Gabrielli
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Mednick
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knop
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Goodwin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology