Language processing in men at risk for alcoholism: an event-related potential study.
Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from a group of men with (FH+) and without (FH-) a family history of alcoholism. ERPs were recorded over the left and right cerebral hemispheres and over midline locations while subjects performed a letter rhyming task. The ERPs to the letters displayed major group differences in a negative component with a latency of 430 msec (N430). The amplitude of N430 was significantly smaller in the FH+ as compared to the FH- subjects. These group differences were more pronounced in ERPs recorded from over the right than the left hemisphere. In addition, in the FH+ group only the latency of N430 was linearly related to personal drinking habits. These results suggest that (1) certain brain functions associated with the language processing required in this task are different in men at high and low risk for the development of alcoholism and (2) moderate social use of ethanol may have more pronounced effects on language-relevant brain functions in FH+ than in FH- individuals.
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D012306:Risk