People under the influence of acetaminophen (aka paracetamol, Tylenol, Panadol) engage in more risky behavior, according to a study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
From The Ohio State University:
People who took acetaminophen rated activities like "bungee jumping off a tall bridge" and "speaking your mind about an unpopular issue in a meeting at work" as less risky than people who took a placebo, researchers found.
Use of the drug also led people to take more risks in an experiment where they could earn rewards by inflating a virtual balloon on a computer: Sometimes they went too far and the balloon popped.
"Acetaminophen seems to make people feel less negative emotion when they consider risky activities – they just don't feel as scared," said Baldwin Way, co-author of the study and associate professor of psychology at The Ohio State University.
