We propose to 30vestigate neurobiological indicators (auditory and visual Event-R31ated Potentials, personality variants, iconic memory, vigila32e, Category Errors) of alcoholism risk in alcoholic women selected33or absence of drug dependence and other psychiatric illness, and their relatives (parents, siblings, children, and siblings' children) through use of control families without alcoholism or psychiatric illness. Secondly, we will study the transmission of alcoholism within families of alcoholic women during presence or absence of alcoholism of relatives to determine if: (1) alcoholism is a heterogeneous disorder in women; (2) the mode of transmission is multifactorial or gives evidence for a major gene as well; and (3) path analytic techniques give evidence for specific multifactorial inheritance (i.e., the Environmental Model, Daughter Effects, Cross Sex Effects). We propose to ascertain nuclear families through a pair of female alcoholic probands, providing a large number of nuclear families with which to uncover possible neurobiological indicators of risk. Extended pedigrees will provide data for path and segregation analysis. From these analyses, we can describe the mode of inheritance and quantify the lifetime risk for developing alcoholism among these children of alcoholic mothers. With follow-up during subsequent investigations, we can confirm whether or not our predictions for specific children are correct. Further exploration of neurobehavioral deficits in children of alcoholics will be accomplished using the children's psychiatric status, measures of ERP (both auditory and visual are currently implemented in our laboratory), vigilance, iconic memory, and neurological functioning including static ataxia.
