A discussion described as creepy-cool… and I have to agree. A discussion which goes from the behavior modification caused in rats by a parasite which makes rats more likely to get eaten by cats… (why? It can only reproduce in cat guts) to the fact that several studies show a correlation between the same parasitic infection in people and risk-taking behavior.
See the video here… a fascinating discussion through biology, behavior, parasites, aging and stress…
One more thing… the national rates of toxoplasma infection appear to correlate with some cultural differences between nations. Not causality… but an interesting correlation.
Toxoplasma (Toxoplasma gondii) [Toxo] was first observed in 1908. You may have heard of it as the crazy parasite that makes rats attracted to cats. This, in its own right, is astonishing, interesting, & bizarre. It has also been widely known that pregnant women should stay clear of cat scat & other sources for Toxo as it can adversely affect the development of the fetus.
Dr. Robert Sopalsky at Stanford has taken this link to humans further & has been studying, in detail, how it is affecting humans with some startling observations, but we’ll get to that later.
excerpted from Tobias Tenney’s blog
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