A pain reliever that alters perceptions of risk
In study, acetaminophen makes risky moves seem less dangerous
Jeff Grabmeier
While acetaminophen is helping you deal with your headache, it may also be making you more willing to take risks, a new study suggests.
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.