Book excerpt: Written by a panel of experts, Methods in Alcohol-Related Neuroscience Research not only provides information of a technical nature but also gives an overview of the many areas in investigating the effects of alcohol on the brain. It gives technical guidance for investigators doing research at the molecular, cellular, systems, and behavioral levels. These techniques include a wide variety of approaches, ranging from gene mapping and examination of molecular interactions of alcohol at the sub-cellular level to recording of neural activities in freely-behaving animals and imaging alcohol effects on the living human brain.