Abstract
Alcohol consumption accounts for 5% of global disease burden. Using family and longitudinal data from three independent samples (Ns = 1,303, 897, & 223) spanning childhood/adolescence to middle age (ages 11-37), we identify replicable reductions in gray matter volumes of frontal gyri, which are genetically-conferred, and prospectively predict alcohol consumption and initiation of use. Further, gene expression in the frontal cortex is replicably associated with genetic risk for alcohol consumption. Frontal volume is a promising prognostic biomarker for alcohol consumption liability.
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