科学日报（2009年12月25日）–xx，还有心痛；骨碎，还有心碎；肉体伤痛，还有心灵伤痛……我们经常使用同一个词描述躯体和精神痛苦。非xx止痛药（over-the-counter pain relieving drugs ）一直用于缓解躯体疼痛，不少其他xx已经被用于xx抑郁和焦虑。但是普通止痛药是否可能具有双重功能，不只是减缓xxx和xx，还可以缓解被社会排斥的痛苦？

Could Acetaminophen Ease Psychological Pain?
对乙酰氨基酚可以减少心理痛苦？
翻译：danny 提交日期： 2009年1月9日

ScienceDaily (Dec. 25, 2009) — Headaches and heartaches. Broken bones and broken spirits. Hurting bodies and hurt feelings. We often use the same words to describe physical and mental pain. Over-the-counter pain relieving drugs have long been used to alleviate physical pain, while a host of other medications have been employed in the treatment of depression and anxiety. But is it possible that a common painkiller could serve double duty, easing not just the physical pains of sore joints and headaches, but also the pain of social rejection?

科学日报（2009年12月25日）–xx，还有心痛；骨碎，还有心碎；肉体伤痛，还有心灵伤痛……我们经常使用同一个词描述躯体和精神痛苦。非xx止痛药（over-the-counter pain relieving drugs ）一直用于缓解躯体疼痛，不少其他xx已经被用于xx抑郁和焦虑。但是普通止痛药是否可能具有双重功能，不只是减缓xxx和xx，还可以缓解被社会排斥的痛苦？

A research team led by psychologist C. Nathan DeWall of the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology has uncovered evidence indicating that acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) may blunt social pain.

肯塔基大学艺术与科学学院心理学系（University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology）的心理学家C. Nathan DeWall领导的研究小组发现：对乙酰氨基酚(acetaminophen,泰诺Tylenol的活性物质)可以降低社会痛苦。

“The idea — that a drug designed to alleviate physical pain should reduce the pain of social rejection — seemed simple and straightforward based on what we know about neural overlap between social and physical pain systems. To my surprise, I couldn’t find anyone who had ever tested this idea,” DeWall said.

DeWall说：“这一想法，有关被设计用来减轻身体疼痛xx，也应该可以减轻社会排斥的痛苦－简单和直接的依据是我们知道有关社会和躯体痛苦的神经系统存在重叠。让我意外的是，我没发现之前有关这一设想的研究”。

According to a study due to be published in the journal Psychological Science, DeWall and colleagues were correct. Physical and social pain appear to overlap in the brain, relying on some of the same behavioral and neural mechanisms.

根据《心理科学（Psychological Science）》杂志上发表的研究，DeWall和同事的想法是可行的。躯体和社会痛苦在大脑的反映存在叠合，分享着部分相同的行为和神经机制。

DeWall and colleagues investigated this connection through two experiments. In the first experiment, 62 healthy volunteers took 1,000 milligrams daily of either acetaminophen or a placebo. Each evening, participants reported how much they experienced social pain using a version of the “Hurt Feelings Scale” — a measurement tool widely accepted by psychologists as a valid measure of social pain. Hurt feelings and social pain decreased over time in those taking acetaminophen, while no change was observed in subjects taking the placebo. Levels of positive emotions remained stable, with no significant changes observed in either group. These results indicate that acetaminophen use may decrease self-reported social pain over time, by impacting emotions linked to hurt feelings.

DeWall和同事研究了2个试验的关联。在{dy}个试验中，62个健康志愿者每日摄入1000毫克对乙酰氨基酚或安慰剂。 每日晚上，被试通过“伤害感量表（Hurt Feelings Scale–被心理学家广泛使用的社会痛苦有效测量工具）”报告他们所感受到的社会痛苦。使用对乙酰氨基酚的被试报告：被伤害情绪和社会痛苦随时间而下降，而使用安慰剂的被试则未发现改变。积极情绪水平保持稳定，2组均未发现重大改变。这些结果显示：通过与伤害感有关的情绪影响，使用对乙酰氨基酚可以使自我报告的社会痛苦随时间而下降。

“We were very excited about these initial findings,” DeWall said. “The next step was to identify the neural mechanisms underlying the findings.”

DeWall说：“我们对于这些新发现非常激动，下一步，是确认这些发现背后的神经机制。”

In the second experiment, 25 healthy volunteers took 2,000 milligrams daily of either acetaminophen or a placebo. After three weeks of taking the pills, subjects participated in a computer game rigged to create feelings of social rejection. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) employed during the game revealed that acetaminophen reduced neural responses to social rejection in brain regions associated with the distress of social pain and the affective component of physical pain (the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula). In other words, the parts of the brain associated with physical lit up in the placebo subjects when they were rejected, while the acetaminophen group displayed significantly less activity in these brain areas in response to rejection.

在第二个试验中，25名健康志愿者每日摄入2000毫克对乙酰氨基酚或安慰剂。3周后，被试参与一个构建社会排斥情绪的计算机游戏。在游戏中使用功能磁共振成像（Functional magnetic resonance imaging，fMRI）显示：当受到社会拒绝，使用对乙酰氨基酚可以减少大脑中与社会痛苦和躯体痛苦有关部位的神经反应（背侧前扣带回和前脑岛，the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula）。换句话说：当安慰剂组被拒绝时，被试大脑中与身体痛苦有关的部分会被xx；而同样情况下的对乙酰氨基酚测试组，则显示显著的低活性。

According to the academic paper detailing the experiments: .” ..findings suggest that at least temporary mitigation of social pain-related distress may be achieved by means of an over-the-counter painkiller that is normally used for physical aches and pains.” Furthermore, many studies have shown that being rejected can trigger aggressive and antisocial behavior, which could lead to further complications in social life… .If acetaminophen reduces the distress of rejection, the antisocial behavioral consequences of rejection may be reduced as well.”

根据专业报告披露的实验细节，“…研究认为：至少与社会痛苦相关的不适可以通过非xx止痛药（OTC，over-the-counter painkiller）暂时性缓解。”而且，一些研究研已表明被排斥可以导致攻击性和反社会行为，这将进一步导致社会生活的并发症…如果对乙酰氨基酚（acetaminophen）可以减少被排斥的痛苦，那被排斥后的反社会行为，也可以减少。

Researchers caution that readers should not immediately stock up on acetaminophen to ease social pain and anxiety, noting “[t]o be sure, our findings do not constitute a call for widespread use of acetaminophen to cope with all types of personal problems. Future research is needed to verify the potential benefits of acetaminophen on reducing emotional and antisocial responses to social rejection.” Long-term use of acetaminophen has also been linked to serious liver damage, so it is important for patients to follow all package directions and consult their physicians if they are contemplating taking any medication for an off-label use.

研究者提醒读者不要立即使用对乙酰氨基酚（acetaminophen）以减缓社会痛苦和焦虑。“我们的研究并不是对于大规模使用对乙酰氨基酚以解决所有类型个人问题的建议。对于使用对乙酰氨基酚以缓解对社会排斥的情绪和反社会反应，需要今后研究的进一步验证。”长期使用对乙酰氨基酚与肝损坏相关，因此，患者遵照xx说明使用是非常必要的，如果病患在考虑对xx进行任何标示外使用(Off-Label Use，即对药品不按说明书使用 译者注)时，应向他们的医生咨询。

“This research has the potential to change how scientists and laypersons understand physical and social pain. Social pain, such as chronic loneliness, damages health as much as smoking and obesity. We hope our findings can pave the way for interventions designed to reduce the pain of social rejection,” DeWall said.

DeWall说：“该研究可以改变科学家和大众对躯体和社会痛苦的理解。社会痛苦，诸如慢性寂寞（chronic loneliness）－－对健康的伤害不亚于抽烟和肥胖。我们希望我们的发现可以为减少社会排斥痛苦的干预提供借鉴。”

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