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Background: The robust association of alcoholism with reduced P300 event-related potential amplitude has been largely established in severely affected alcoholics and their offspring. Few studies have examined the relationship of increased arousal, anxiety, and P300. In this study, we sought to determine whether P300 group differences could be discerned in well functioning individuals with less severe forms of alcohol use disorders and anxiety disorders. We were particularly interested in looking at the subgroup of alcohol use disorders accompanied by anxiety disorders. This subgroup has previously been found to have diminished alpha amplitude in the resting EEG., Methods: Male and female community volunteers (99 unrelated index participants and 78 relatives) and 21 unrelated volunteers from an anxiety disorder clinic were interviewed by using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Lifetime version. Blind-rated lifetime psychiatric diagnoses were assigned according to DSM-III-R criteria. Auditory and visual P300 event-related potentials were elicited with an oddball paradigm and were recorded at the midparietal (Pz) site., Results: As expected, auditory P300 amplitudes were significantly reduced in participants with alcohol use disorders and significantly increased in participants with lifetime anxiety disorders. However, more detailed analysis revealed that, in an apparent paradox, auditory P300 amplitudes were lowest in individuals with comorbid alcohol use and anxiety disorders and highest in individuals with anxiety disorders alone. Visual P300 amplitudes followed the same trends but were generally not significant., Conclusions: Even in a sample of largely community-ascertained individuals, auditory P300 amplitude is reduced in alcoholics, particularly those with anxiety disorders, and is highest in nonalcoholics with anxiety disorders.

Studies in children have shown that the genetic influence on cognition is positively correlated with socioeconomic status. Catechol- O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met, a common, functional polymorphism, has been implicated in executive cognition and working memory. Imaging studies have shown that the variant Met allele is associated with more efficient prefrontal cortical processing and better attention but also emotional vulnerability to stress. We hypothesized that COMT Val158Met genotype would interact with years of education (yrs ed), one indicator of socioeconomic adversity, to predict cognitive task performance. We therefore administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) to 328 community-derived, genotyped, Plains American Indians (mean yrs ed = 12; range = 5–18). We found significant genotypic effects on WAIS-R measures of long-term memory, working memory and attention. The Met allele was associated with improved performance in the Information and Picture Completion subscales; Met/Met homozygotes performed the best. COMT genotype interacted with yrs ed to influence Information and Block Design scores: Met allele carriers’ scores improved markedly with increasing yrs ed, whereas the scores of Val/Val individuals were only marginally influenced by yrs ed. There was a crossover of effects at 11–12 yrs ed: in the less educated group, Met allele carriers actually performed worse than Val/Val individuals perhaps because of emotional vulnerability to educational adversity, but in the better educated group, Met allele carriers excelled. Our study in Plains American Indians has shown that COMT Val158Met influences several aspects of cognition and some of its effects are moderated by educational adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neuropeptide galanin is widely expressed in the periphery and the central nervous system and mediates diverse physiological processes and behaviors including alcohol abuse, depression and anxiety. Four genes encoding galanin and its receptors have been identified ( GAL, GALR1, GALR2 and GALR3). Recently we found that GAL haplotypes were associated with alcoholism, raising the possibility that genetic variation in GALR1, GALR2 and GALR3 might also alter alcoholism risk. Tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified by genotyping SNP panels in controls from five populations. For the association study with alcoholism, six GALR1, four GALR2 and four GALR3 SNPs were genotyped in a large cohort of Finnish alcoholics and non-alcoholics. GALR3 showed a significant association with alcoholism that was driven by one SNP (rs3091367). Moreover, the combination of the GALR3 rs3091367 risk allele and GAL risk haplotypes led to a modestly increased odds ratio (OR) for alcoholism (2.4) as compared with the effect of either GAL (1.9) or GALR3 alone (1.4). Likewise, the combination of the GALR3 and GAL risk diplotypes led to an increased OR for alcoholism (4.6) as compared with the effect of either GAL (2.0) or GALR3 alone (1.6). There was no effect of GALR1 or GALR2 on alcoholism risk. This evidence suggests that GALR3 mediates the alcoholism-related actions of galanin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on several behavioral studies presented during the sixth annual meeting of the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society in New Orleans, Louisiana in November 2003. Genetic influences on anxiety in mice and women; Role of the brain-derived neutrotrophic factor in the regulation of neuronal development and drug action; Genetics of rewarding and aversive effects of ethanol.

The article presents a study on the effects of nealbarbitone to patients suffering from anxiety states. Fifty out-patients were treated in random order in a double blind trial with either nealbarbitone or amylobarbitone. An initial dose of 60 milligrams three times a day (t.i.d.) of either drugs was prescribed and was increased to 120 milligrams t.i.d. Two weeks after treatment, the patients showed significantly more improvement in three symptoms which include tremor, muscle twitching, and inability to get off to sleep at night.