Abstract
Our study was designed to examine whether the pain reliever acetaminophen impacts the normal ebb-and-flow of off-task attentional states, such as captured by the phenomenon of mind wandering. In a placebo-controlled between-groups design, participants performed a sustained attention to response task while event-related potentials (ERPs) to target events were recorded. Participants were queried at random intervals for their attentional reports – either “on-task” or “off-task.” The frequency of these reports and the ERPs generated by the preceding target events were assessed. Behaviorally, the frequency of off-task attentional reports was comparable between groups. Electrophysiologically, two findings emerged: first, the amplitude of the P300 ERP component elicited by target events was significantly attenuated during off-task vs. on-task attentional states in both the acetaminophen and placebo groups. Second, the amplitude of the LPP ERP component elicited by target events showed a significant decrease during off-task attentional states that was specific to the acetaminophen group. Taken together, our findings support the conclusion that acetaminophen doesn’t impact our relative propensity to drift into off-task attentional states, but it does affect the depth of neurocognitive disengagement during off-task attentional states, and in particular, at the level of post-categorization stimulus evaluations indexed by the LPP.
Highlights
Acetaminophen— known as paracetamol or Tylenol R —is a common non-prescription, centrally-acting pain reliever that has been recognized in recent years to have a number of substantive cognitive and affective side-effects
Our primary dependent measures were (1) the relative frequencies of on- vs. off-task attentional reports, to assess acetaminophen’s impacts on the relative proportion of time spent in off-task attentional states, and (2) the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by target events, to assess acetaminophen’s possible impacts on the depth of our attentional and evaluative processing attenuation during offtask attentional states, as indexed by the P300 and LPP ERP components respectively
Our primary dependent measures were (1) the relative frequencies of on- vs. off-task attentional reports, to assess acetaminophen’s impacts on the relative proportion of time spent in on- vs. off-task attentional states, and (2) the ERPs elicited by target events, to assess acetaminophen’s impacts on the depth of our attentional and evaluative processing attenuation during off-task attentional states, as indexed by the mean amplitudes of the P3 and LPP ERP components elicited by target events, respectively
Summary
Acetaminophen— known as paracetamol or Tylenol R —is a common non-prescription, centrally-acting pain reliever that has been recognized in recent years to have a number of substantive cognitive and affective side-effects. When our attention transiently drifts away from the given task at hand such as during periods of mind wandering, it correlates with a systematic up-regulation of activity in the DMN (Mason et al, 2007; Christoff et al, 2009; Andrews-Hanna et al, 2010; Andrews-Hanna, 2012). This has supported the idea that DMN activation is associated with spontaneous, task-independent thought (Christoff et al, 2016; Dixon et al, 2017). The salience network has been shown to transiently suppress activity in the DMN, leading to the proposal that this modulatory influence maintains “on-task” attentional states because the neural circuitry associated with “off-task” attentional states — the DMN — is being directly inhibited (Bonnelle et al, 2012; Jilka et al, 2014; Menon, 2015)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
