Temporal dissociation in the brain processing of pain and anger faces with different intensities of emotional expression.

Facial expression is one of the most relevant nonverbal behaviors in the communication of pain. However, little is known about brain processing of pain expressions in comparison with other affective facial expressions. The present experiment aimed to examine the effects of pain expression intensity on affective ratings and brain dynamics by recording electroencephalography (EEG) from 20 female healthy volunteers 18-24 years of age. Participants were asked to rate the affective characteristics of 144 stimuli depicting facial expressions of pain and anger with 3 level of intensities (high, mild, and low), as well as neutral faces. Results indicated that pain faces were judged as more unpleasant and arousing than anger and neutral faces for all intensity levels. EEG results further showed that facial expressions of pain elicited more enhanced amplitudes of the visual evoked potentials than anger and neutral faces in the latency between 350 and 550 milliseconds after stimulus onset; whereas anger faces elicited greater P200 amplitudes than pain and neutral faces. In addition, more increased theta activity in the latency of 200 to 400 milliseconds after stimulus onset was observed to high-intense as compared with low-intense facial expressions. These findings indicate that brain activity elicited by affective faces is modulated by the intensity of facial expressions and suggest the involvement of different brain mechanisms during the processing and recognition of facial expressions of pain and anger in healthy volunteers.

A new minimum legal drinking age (MLDA)? Some findings to inform the debate.

Despite support that the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21 is an important public health provision in the United States, a group of college presidents are petitioning for the MLDA to be lowered. To inform this debate, we examined whether heavy and risky drinking was associated with a stance to lower the MLDA in 865 college students under the age of 21. Results showed that, in comparison to other students, heavy/risky drinkers more often had a stance to lower the MLDA. Thus, for students, the MLDA debate seems to be less a philosophical issue about prohibition and harm reduction, and appears to be more a political stance that reflects students' concurrent behaviors. We discuss how drinking and MLDA laws in Europe might compare with the United States, and how future policy work might benefit from empirical and cross-cultural study.

Development of the brief Spanish Cocaine Craving Questionnaire-General.

Combining two different samples of cocaine users (N = 183), we tested the factor structure of a brief (12-item), Spanish version of the Cocaine Craving Questionnaire-General using confirmatory factor analysis. The four-factor model provided excellent fit to the measure. Moreover, the measure significantly differentiated between recent cocaine users and abstainers, as well as between participants with different levels of severity of drug-use history. Factor 1 expresses highly intense and overwhelming desires, Factor 2 expresses lack of self-control over cocaine use, Factor 3 items express lack of positive reinforcement expectancies, and Factor 4 expresses stimulating expectancies for cocaine use. The results revealed the validity of the CCQ-General brief as an instrument to assess cocaine craving in Spanish and supported the conceptualization of cocaine craving as a multifaceted construct.

Development of the brief Spanish Cocaine Craving Questionnaire- General / Desarrollo de la versión española breve del Cocaine Craving Questionnaire-General

Combining two different samples of cocaine users (N= 183), we tested the factor structure of a brief (12-item), Spanish version of the Cocaine Craving Questionnaire-General using confirmatory factor analysis. The four-factor model provided excellent fit to the measure. Moreover, the measure significantly differentiated between recent cocaine users and abstainers, as well as between participants with different levels of severity of drug-use history. Factor 1 expresses highly intense and overwhelming desires, Factor 2 expresses lack of self-control over cocaine use, Factor 3 items express lack of positive reinforcement expectancies, and Factor 4 expresses stimulating expectancies for cocaine use. The results revealed the validity of the CCQ-General brief as an instrument to assess cocaine craving in Spanish and supported the conceptualization of cocaine craving as a multifaceted construct (AU)

En este estudio comprobamos la estructura factorial de una versión breve (12 ítems) del «Cocaine Craving Questionnaire-General» en población española, combinando dos muestras de consumidores de cocaína (N= 183). El análisis factorial confirmatorio señaló que el modelo se ajustaba a cuatro factores. Además, el cuestionario diferenciaba entre consumidores no abstinentes y abstinentes, así como diferentes grados de severidad en la adicción. El Factor 1 hacía referencia al deseo intenso por consumir, el Factor 2 hacía referencia a la ausencia de control sobre el consumo, el Factor 3 expresaba la ausencia de expectativas positivas sobre el consumo y el Factor 4 se refería a las expectativas sobre los efectos estimulantes derivados del consumo. Los resultados mostraron la validez del CCQ-G breve como instrumento para evaluar el craving por la cocaína en población española y apoyan la conceptualización del craving por la cocaína como un constructo multifactorial (AU)