Individual differences in subjective responses to alcohol consumption represent genetically mediated biobehavioral mechanisms of alcoholism risk (i.e., endophenotype).
The objective of this review is three-fold:
(1) to provide a critical review the literature on subjective response to alcohol and to discuss the rationale for its conceptualization as an endophenotype for alcoholism;
(2) to examine the literature on the neurobiological substrates and associated genetic factors subserving individual differences in subjective response to alcohol; and
(3) to discuss the treatment implications of this approach and to propose a framework for conceptualizing, and systematically integrating, endophenotypes into alcoholism treatment.
Request Reprint E-Mail: lararay@psych.ucla.edu.
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