ACTION OF SOME ANTIPYRETIC ANALGESICS ON 

 PSYCHOLOGICAL REACTION TIME 



D. I. MACHT, S. ISAACS AND J. GREENBERG 



From the Pharmacological Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University 



In a preceding communication by Macht and Isaacs pub- 

 lished in this Journal (1), the authors reported the results of their 

 investigations on the effect of opium and its principal alkaloid, 

 morphin on the psychological reaction time. Opium and mor- 

 phin are the most effective analgesic or pain-relieving drugs at 

 the disposal of the pharmacologists. There is, however, another 

 class of drugs which is also very efficient in the relief of pain, es- 

 pecially of a neuralgic character. This is the group of so-called 

 antipyretics which derive their name from the other very inter- 

 esting property which they possess, namely that of reducing tem- 

 perature in cases of fever. This group of drugs includes a large 

 number of substances widely employed by physicians and laymen 

 for the relief of headaches, neuralgias, rheumatic pains, etc. 

 Following the investigations on the effects of opium and morphin 

 on psychological reaction time, it was interesting to inquire into 

 the effect of the antipyretics in this respect. Accordingly, the 

 present research was undertaken. 



The only previous work of importance on the subject worth 

 considering is that of Munsterberg (2). That author reported 

 some experiments on the effect of three antipyretics quinin, 

 antipyrin, and phenacetin on some mental efficiency tests. The 

 tests employed by him were the reproduction of consonants or 

 digits read to the subject, the counting of letters in a given text 

 within a given perio,d of time, the time taken to name ten colors 

 presented in a row, etc. Munsterberg found marked impairment 

 following antipyrin and quinin. From the pharmacological point 

 of view, however, the doses of the drugs employed in his experi- 

 ments were entirely too large or toxic. Thus, for instance, the 



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