Pihl R O, Peterson J B
Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
J Psychiatry Neurosci. 1995 Nov;20(5):372-96.
Individuals use and misuse alcohol (and other drugs) because of the pharmacologically mediated effects these substances have on the operation of 4 psychobiological systems, mediating response to motivationally relevant unconditioned and conditioned stimuli. These 4 systems have unique neuroanatomical structure, biochemical modes of operation, association with affect, behavior and cognition, and responsiveness to drugs of abuse. Individual variation in the operation of these systems determines individual susceptibility to initiation and maintenance of drug use and abuse. Sources of such variation differ, in a vitally important fashion, in various specific populations of individuals at heightened risk for drug abuse. Nonalcoholic sons of male alcoholics, with multigenerational family histories of male alcoholism, appear to be at heightened risk for the development of alcohol abuse because alcohol eliminates their heightened response to threat, and because they are hypersensitive to ethanol's psychomotor stimulant effects. Anxiety-sensitive individuals also appear attracted to alcohol for its anxiolytic properties. Many other important sources of idiosyncratic variability exist. Detailed analysis of such sources may lead to the development of more effective prevention and treatment programs.
个体使用和滥用酒精（以及其他药物）是因为这些物质对4种心理生物学系统的运作产生了药理学介导的影响，这些系统介导了对动机相关的无条件和条件刺激的反应。这4种系统具有独特的神经解剖结构、生化运作模式、与情感、行为和认知的关联，以及对滥用药物的反应性。这些系统运作中的个体差异决定了个体对药物使用和滥用的起始和维持的易感性。在药物滥用风险较高的各种特定个体群体中，这种差异的来源以至关重要的方式各不相同。有男性酗酒多代家族史的男性酗酒者的非酗酒儿子，似乎因酒精消除了他们对威胁的增强反应，以及他们对乙醇的精神运动兴奋作用高度敏感，而有更高的酒精滥用发展风险。焦虑敏感个体似乎也因其抗焦虑特性而被酒精吸引。还存在许多其他重要的个体差异来源。对这些来源进行详细分析可能会导致开发出更有效的预防和治疗方案。
