Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is a popular pain reliever, but it may also blunt emotions, both positive and negative, a new study shows.
In a randomized, controlled trial, 85 people took 1,000 milligrams of Tylenol or a placebo. After one hour, researchers showed them a selection of 40 images in random order. They ranged from the extremely pleasant (children laughing in a park with kittens, for example) to neutral (a rolling pin on a table) to extremely unpleasant (an overflowing toilet).
Ten of the images were extremely unpleasant, five moderately unpleasant, 10 neutral, five moderately pleasant and 10 extremely pleasant. The participants rated their emotional reactions on a scale from 0 (“I feel little to no emotion”) to 10 (“I feel an extreme amount of emotion”). The study appears online in Psychological Science.
Compared with those who took the placebo, those who took Tylenol were about 20 percent less likely to rate images as extremely pleasant and 10 percent less likely to rate them extremely unpleasant.
Although the mechanisms remain unclear, previous research suggests that Tylenol reduces pain by acting on the insula, a part of the brain that, among other functions, influences social emotions.
“We don’t want to make any recommendations concerning acetaminophen use,” said the lead author, Geoffrey R. O. Durso, a doctoral student in psychology at Ohio State University. “These are modest differences in a very controlled setting. We recommend following the advice of your doctor with regard to managing pain with Tylenol.”
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