The biology of alcoholism. Volume 7, The pathogenesis of alcoholism: Biological factors

The previous volume, The Pathogenesis of Alcoholism: Psychosocial Factors, attempted to describe the interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors that lead to the initiation and perpetuation of alcoholism. The preface to that volume presented our particular view of the bio-. psycho-social interaction as a progressive process in which earlier developments produce new pathogenetic mechanisms, which in turn lead to still other cyclical feedback activities. Although influences from each of the three phenomenologic levels are at work during each stage of the clinical course, it would appear that social factors are most significant in the early phase, psychological factors at the intermediate level, and biological ones toward the end. These differences are only relative, however, for influences of all three types surely are operative during all stages of the syndrome. This appears to be particularly true for the biological parameters of activity. Don Goodwin (1976), who has supplied much of the data that support the role of hereditary factors in alcoholism, is wont to say that all living behavior is biological-by definition. The operational evidence for this is perhaps more evident in alcoholism than in other syndromes. For example, the general social indifference of many Asians to alcohol may reflect the presence of an atypical isoenzyme of alcohol dehydrogenase rather than some independently derived cultural norm. Front Matter....Pages i-xxix Genetic Factors in Alcohol Abuse: Animal Models....Pages 1-30 Genetic Factors in Alcoholism....Pages 31-56 Acute Pharmacological Actions of Ethanol on the Central Nervous System....Pages 57-75 Ethanol and Brain Mechanisms of Reward....Pages 77-105 Ethanol as a Reinforcer: Comparison with Other Drugs....Pages 107-131 A Behavioral Analysis of the Reinforcing Properties of Alcohol and Other Drugs in Man....Pages 133-198 Neurochemical Aspects of Tolerance to and Physical Dependence on Alcohol....Pages 199-252 Metabolic Mechanisms in Tolerance and Physical Dependence on Alcohol....Pages 253-283 Endocrine Mechanisms in Tolerance to and Dependence on Alcohol....Pages 285-357 The Relationship of Tolerance and Physical Dependence to Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Problems....Pages 359-414 Brain Dysfunction and Alcohol....Pages 415-483 Cognitive Deficits in Alcoholics....Pages 485-538 Prenatal Effects of Alcohol Abuse in Humans and Laboratory Animals....Pages 539-589 Amethystic Agents in the Treatment of Alcohol Intoxication....Pages 591-611 Back Matter....Pages 613-635