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Could Stifile Joy Research Paper

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Many Popular Medications Could Stifle Joy You know that Tylenol can take the edge off physical pain. But did you know that it may also dull your emotions? Intriguing research from Ohio State University suggests that acetaminophen-containing drugs like Tylenol may reduce the intensity of emotions. Acetaminophen is a popular painkiller, with billions of doses sold annually. In any given week, about one-quarter of American adults (23 percent) take it to relieve all kinds of pain – everything from post-surgical discomfort to menstrual cramps. You may even have taken acetaminophen without realizing it. The FDA reports that over 600 medications include it as an active ingredient, including nonprescription remedies like Nyquil, Theraflu and Midol and …show more content…

We may speak of a “painful” breakup or an “aching” heart or say that someone has “hurt” our feelings. Similarly, we may portray positive feelings as though they have physical effects. For instance, we may say that love gives us a “high” reminiscent of an addictive drug. There may be a biological basis for these common figures of speech. Deep in the brain, shrouded beneath the squiggly tissue of the outer cortex, sits the insula. The insula acts something like a switchboard, taking input about basic body sensations (for example, smelling a rotten odor) translating it into a complex emotional reaction (in this case, disgust and aversion) and then generating output that returns to the body as a physical response (maybe nausea). If the insula is damaged, there can be a variety of far-reaching effects. Insular damage has the potential to suddenly cure a lifelong smoking addiction, but it could just as easily remove the ability to appreciate emotional aspects of

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