RESEARCH CENTER: ETIOLOGY & TREATMENT OF ALC DEPENDENCE

酒精病因学和治疗研究中心 Dependence致力于系统地检查 酒精使用的性质、发展和临床管理 紊乱 该中心是围绕一个综合网络组织起来的 三个基础科学实验室（神经生物学，神经动力学， 和心理生理学）和一个治疗评价实验室， 将基本的科学方法和概念纳入其计划。 在下一个五年资助期内，我们建议开展一项 实验室研究和治疗的多学科计划 四个主要研究内容的评价研究。 研究部分I涉及四项有前景的临床研究， 干预措施，包括新的药物疗法（血清素摄取 抑制剂和非苯二氮卓类抗焦虑药），手册指导 认知行为疗法，线索暴露条件反射疗法， 和心理治疗 构成部分二包括三个实验室 旨在阐明酒精与 依赖和生物反应酒精相关的刺激， 人类实验对象 我们还建议开展动物研究， 澄清我们的人类研究结果， 神经内分泌反应是影响饮酒的因素。 第三个研究部分将侧重于反社会人格 (ASP)和家族史是酒精依赖的危险因素。 一项正在进行的遗传和 环境脆弱性因素将在一个队列中继续 对酗酒者的年轻成年后代的研究 酒精依赖的最大风险。 另外两项研究将 检查假定的风险因素（ASP、家族史和气质） 与CNS功能和心理生理学指标相关 对酒精相关线索的反应 第四部分将审查 乙醇在生物膜中的沉积 水平通过使用X射线和中子衍射技术。 这种高 分辨率方法将与功能标志物相关， 膜受体和酶。 最终，这些技术将 在人体生物膜上进行测试，以确定 对酒精中毒或长期饮酒的遗传易感性 硒以可测量的方式改变细胞膜。

The Center for Research on the Etiology and Treatment of Alcohol Dependence is dedicated to the systematic examination of the nature, development, and clinical management of alcohol-use disorders. The Center is organized around an integrated network of three basic science laboratories (Neurobiology, Neurodynamics, and Psychophysiology) and one treatment evaluation laboratory which incorporates basic science methods and concepts into its program. During the next five-year grant period we propose to initiate a multidisciplinary program of laboratory studies and treatment evaluation research within four major research components. Research Component I involves four studies of promising clinical interventions, including new pharmacotherapies (serotonin uptake inhibitors and nonbenzodiazapine anxiolytics), manual-guided cognitive-behavioral therapy, cue exposure conditioning therapy, and psychotherapy. Component II consists of three laboratory-based studies designed to clarify the relationship between alcohol dependence and biological responses to alcohol-related stimuli in human subjects. We also propose to initiate animal studies to clarify results of our human research with respect to conditioned neuroendocrine responses as factors affecting alcohol consumption. The third research component will focus on antisocial personality (ASP) and family history as risk factors for alcohol dependence. An ongoing longitudinal prospective study of genetic and environmental vulnerability factors will be continued in a cohort study of young adult offspring of alcoholics during the period of maximum risk for alcohol dependence. Two additional studies will examine putative risk factors (ASP, family history and temperament) in relation to measures of CNS functioning and psychophysiological responsiveness to alcohol-related cues. Component IV will examine the disposition of ethanol in biological membranes at the angstrom level by using x-ray and neutron diffraction techniques. This high resolution approach will be correlated with functional markers of membrane receptors and enzymes. Ultimately, these techniques will be tested on human biological membranes to determine whether genetic susceptibility to alcoholism or long-term alcohol use per se alters membranes in a measurable way.