Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: About 23% of all adults in the US take acetaminophen during an average week (Kaufman, Kelly, Rosenberg, Anderson, & Mitchell, 2002) because acetaminophen is an effective physical painkiller and easily accessible over the counter.The physiological side effects of acetaminophen are well documented and generally mild when acetaminophen is consumed in the appropriate dosage.In contrast, the psychological and social side effects of acetaminophen are largely unknown.Recent functional neuroimaging research suggests that the experience of physical pain is fundamentally related to the experience of empathy for the pain of other people, indicating that pharmacologically reducing responsiveness to physical pain also reduces cognitive, affective, and behavioral responsiveness to the pain of others.I tested this hypothesis across three double-blind between-subjects drug intervention studies.Two experiments showed that acetaminophen had moderate effects on empathic affect, specifically personal distress and empathic concern, and a small effect on empathic cognition, specifically perceived pain, when facing physical and social pain of others.The same two experiments and a third experiment also showed that acetaminophen can increase the willingness to inflict pain on other people, i.e., actual aggressive behavior.This effect was especially pronounced among people low in dispositional empathic concern.Together, these findings suggest that the physical pain system is more involved in the iii regulation of social cognition, affect, and behavior than previously assumed and that the experience of physical pain and responsiveness to the pain of others share a common neurochemical basis.Furthermore, these findings suggest that acetaminophen has unappreciated but serious social side effects, and that these side effects may depend on psychological characteristics of the drug consumer.This idea is consistent with recent theory and research on the context-dependency of neurochemical processes.Finally, public health and legal implications of the social side effects of acetaminophen are discussed.Dr. Baldwin Way and Dr. Brad Bushman, for their continuing support over the years.I feel deeply indebted and incredibly fortunate to call these three brilliant minds my mentors and friends.In addition, I want to thank Dr. Leah Pyter for serving as my external defense committee member.Furthermore, I want to thank all my family, in particular my beloved parents Karina and Mike Mischkowski, for raising
Author: Dominik Mischkowski
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2494694873