Attentional bias processing mechanism of emotional faces: anger and happiness superiority effects / 生理学报

Emotional information is critical for our social life, in which attentional bias is now a focus in the study on attention. However, the attentional bias processing mechanism of emotional faces still arouses huge controversy. Using similar experimental paradigms and stimuli, the published studies have yielded contradictory results. Some studies suggest that angry faces could automatically stimulate attention, that is, there is an anger superiority effect. On the contrary, lines of growing evidence support the existence of a happiness superiority effect, suggesting that the superiority effect is shown in happy faces rather than angry faces. In the present paper, the behavioral and neuroscience studies of anger and happiness superiority effects are combined. It is found that there are three major reasons for the debate over the two types of effects, which include the choice of stimulus materials, the difference of paradigm setting, and the different stages of emotional processing. By comparatively integrating the previous published results, we highlight that the future studies should further control the experimental materials and procedures, and investigate the processing mechanism of anger and happiness superiority effects by combining cognitive neurobiology means to resolve the disputes.

Temporospatial characteristics of traumatic brain injuries in Wenchuan earthquake and the management strategy / 中华神经医学杂志

Objective To analyze the temporospatial characteristics of traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by Wenchuan earthquake, the distribution of the complex injuries, and the surgical timing and approaches. Methods The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed among 92 patients sustaining TBI in Wenchuan earthquake admitted in our department within 20 days after the injury. Results All the 92 patients came from the northwest Chengdu Champaign. Seventy-six patients were admitted within the initial 12 hours after earthquake, and 10 patients underwent surgical procedures. Forty-seven patients were cured, 31 were transferred to other provinces for further medical care, and 3 died. Conclusions Early TBI accounted for a large proportion of the TBI cases in Wenchuan earthquake, characterized by rapid progression of the condition. Early emergency surgeries can significantly improve the success rate of operations and lower the mortality rate.