Spatial-anatomical mapping of NoGo-P3 in the offspring of alcoholics: evidence of cognitive and neural disinhibition as a risk for alcoholism.
OBJECTIVE
The concept of disinhibition as a behavioral and biological trait has been considered to be involved in the etiology of alcoholism and its co-existing disorders. The magnitude and functional mapping of event-related potential P3(00) components were analyzed, in order to examine the possible response inhibition deficits in the offspring of alcoholics.


METHODS
The P3 components were compared between 50 offspring of alcoholics (OA) and a matched normal control group (NC) using a visual Go/NoGo task. The low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) was used to analyze the functional brain mapping between groups.


RESULTS
The results indicated that the OA group manifested decreased P3 amplitude during the NoGo but not the Go condition compared to the NC group. The voxel-by-voxel analysis in LORETA showed group differences at several brain regions including prefrontal areas during the processing of NoGo but not Go signals.


CONCLUSIONS
The decreased NoGo-P3 suggests that cognitive and neural disinhibition in offspring of alcoholics may serve as a neurocognitive index for a phenotypic marker in the development of alcoholism and related disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
Dysfunctional neural and response inhibition in the offspring of alcoholics perhaps provides an endophenotypic marker of risk for the development of alcoholism and related disorders.
Kamarajan
Chella
C
Department of Psychiatry, Neurodynamics Laboratory, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
Porjesz
Bernice
B
Jones
Kevin A
KA
Chorlian
David B
DB
Padmanabhapillai
Ajayan
A
Rangaswamy
Madhavi
M
Stimus
Arthur T
AT
Begleiter
Henri
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012307:Risk Factors