Exploring linkage for alcoholism using affection status and quantitative event related potential phenotypes

Using genome-scan data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), we compared results of linkage analyses using a qualitative alcoholism phenotype to results of linkage analyses using event related potential (ERP) quantitative phenotypes, and compared our results to the results of Reich et al. [1998] and Begleiter et al. [1998]. We describe a general and simple strategy for identifying regions of the genome which may harbor genes involved in alcohol dependence which takes into consideration the results of both the affection status and ERP linkage analyses.