The long term goal of this project is information transfer and science education concerning the neurobiology of alcohol for patients receiving alcoholism treatment though the development of video tapes. The last two decades have seen significant advances in our understanding of the neurobiological and genetic factors influencing the development of alcoholism, but little of this information has been effectively transferred to alcoholism treatment programs. In particular, alcoholism practitioners report a critical lack of neuroscience information presented at an appropriate level for patient education. This shortage of accessible science education materials has led to misunderstanding and mistrust of new treatment approaches, especially biomedical research based approaches directed by advances in neuroscience, within both the treatment community and many twelve-step support groups. Our experience in science education related to the neurobiology of alcoholism has led to an understanding of the nature of this communication gap and the education needs of alcoholism treatment patients. It is clear that l) it is critical for patients to have a better understanding of the neurobiology of alcoholism; 2) patients are interested in this information; 3) this information is not readily available in appropriate forms. We propose to use the advantages of video technology for developing science education materials related to the neurobiology of alcohol. Providing current scientific knowledge to alcoholism treatment patients will result in a better understanding of alcohol as a drug and its effects on the brain. Improving information transfer will increase the "grass roots" level understanding and acceptance of new treatment approaches based upon recent advances in neuroscience within the treatment community. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: Video tapes will provide science education related to alcohol and the brain. The target audience is patients receiving treatment for alcoholism. The target market for the videos will be alcoholism treatment professionals who will purchase them for patient education purposes. The potential exists for broader educational distribution of these materials for use with the family members and concerned others of alcoholics.
