According to a study conducted by researchers at Ohio University, taking paracetamol would reduce our empathy, and therefore our emotions.

100mg would be enough to reduce empathy. This is the result of a research conducted by Professor Dominik Mischkowski in the United States. The known painkiller of all, paracetamol, would not be a "simple" analgesic, but also a reducer of empathy.

The study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience conducted the experiment on 80 students. The first half had to drink a glass of water in which they had put 1000 mg of paracetamol and the second half had to drink a glass of water with a placebo. Following this - after an hour of waiting for the drug to take effect - the students were instructed to read 8 scenarios in which the protagonist was experiencing difficulties and pains, physical or moral.

Students had to express their feelings about these pains experienced by the main character with a score ranging from 1 to 5 (1 being a nil pain and 5 being the biggest pain). The result ? Students who took paracetamol felt less empathy than those who took the placebo.

What we learn from the study carried out with these 80 students is that paracetamol retains emotions, all confused, joys and sorrows. In addition to the reduction of pain, paracetamol would also reduce the psychic pain ... At the origin of this, the researchers evoke the action of serotonin, the neurotransmitter involved in the transmission and control of pain, which would also play on the mood.