COGA Blog

Here is a place to read about research findings from COGA. You can learn about the development and progression of AUD, risk and protective factors, genetic findings, treatment for and recovery from AUD, disorders that sometimes occur along with AUD, and more. A complete list of the scientific papers that have been published using COGA data can be found here.

Genome-wide Association Study Identifies 30 Obsessive-compulsive Disorder Associated Loci.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects approximately 1% of the population and has a strong genetic component. This study combined data from 53,660 OCD cases and 2,044,417 controls of European ancestry, identifying 30 genetic markers strongly associated with OCD and finding that genetic factors explain 6.7% of the risk. Separate analyses for different sub-groups of OCD, such [...]

Alcohol Milestones And Internalizing, Externalizing, And Executive Function: Longitudinal And Polygenic Score Associations

Researchers investigated the relationships between alcohol use, behavioral traits (such as impulsivity and negative emotions), and genetic risk. Using data from 3,681 participants aged 11 to 36, researchers examined how behavioral traits and genetic risk factors are linked to different stages of alcohol use (first drink, intoxication, AUD symptoms, AUD diagnosis). The study found that [...]

Non-linear Development Of EEG Coherence In Adolescents And Young Adults Shown By The Analysis Of Neurophysiological Trajectories And Their Covariance

Researchers studied brain wave patterns (EEG coherence) in a group of 1426 participants aged 12 to 31 in order to better understand how brain connections develop in teens and young adults. They looked at specific brain activity (high alpha frequency) across 27 pairs of brain regions, resulting in 5006 observations. Using statistical methods, they analyzed [...]

Genome-wide Association Analyses Identify 95 Risk Loci And Provide Insights Into The Neurobiology Of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can develop after experiencing a traumatic event. It’s characterized by symptoms like intrusive thoughts, heightened arousal, avoiding reminders of the trauma, and negative changes in mood and thinking. For some individuals, these symptoms persist long after the traumatic experience has ended, significantly impacting their quality [...]

Alcohol Use Polygenic Risk Score, Social Support, and Alcohol Use among European American and African American Adults

Alcohol consumption is impacted by a combination of genetic predispositions and environmental influences. We investigated how genome-wide polygenic risk scores for alcohol use (alc-PRS) interact with the level of social support among individuals of European American (EA) and African American (AA) descent, across various age groups ranging from emerging adulthood to middle adulthood. Our analysis [...]

Associations Between Alcohol Use Disorder Polygenic Score And remission In Participants From High-risk Families And The Indiana Biobank

A prior study indicated a positive correlation between a polygenic score for AUD (PGSAUD) and the severity of AUD symptoms, as measured by the DSM-5 lifetime criterion count. Moreover, the severity of AUD symptoms was inversely related to the likelihood of achieving remission. Building on these findings, the researchers hypothesized that the PGSAUD might also [...]

Neurogenetic And Multi-omic Sources Of Overlap Among Sensation Seeking, Alcohol Consumption, And Alcohol Use Disorder

This study found that the desire for new and exciting experiences (sensation seeking) is linked to how much alcohol people consume, both in adults and teenagers. The connection between sensation seeking and alcohol use disorder (AUD) seems to be mainly due to increased alcohol consumption rather than directly causing more problems. The researchers used advanced [...]

Predictors of Risk and Resilience for Future Alcohol Problems Associated with a Low Level of Response to Alcohol

Researchers investigated future prevention protocols for reducing heavy drinking and alcohol-related issues in individuals with a low response to alcohol, a genetically influenced risk factor for recurring alcohol problems. Recent research has shown that addressing factors such as associating with heavy drinking peers, holding inaccurate beliefs about the benefits of heavy drinking, and using alcohol [...]

A Critical Review Of Ethanol Effects On Neuronal Firing: A Metabolic Perspective

The metabolism of ethanol within neurons has been an area of relative understudy, notwithstanding the recognized influence of alterations in neuronal metabolism on their functional activity. Recent investigations indicate a preferential utilization of ethanol over glucose as a carbon and energy source by neurons, inducing a reprogramming effect that leads to a diminished energy potential [...]

Principal Component Analysis Corrects Collider Bias in Polygenic Risk Score Effect Size Estimation

In this article, researchers explore an approach to correct collider bias persisting in existing cohort studies, specifically in genetic risk scoring for studying predispositions in certain study models. Genetic risk scoring is a widely used method to study predispositions to complex traits, including behaviors and psychiatric outcomes. However, statistical models, crafted to eliminate alternative explanations [...]

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