4 ms·
It's not that black or white though, more than 60% of the World population has been infected with Toxoplasmosis, yet you don't see people running towards lions
by feketegy 5y ago
It's not that black or white though, more than 60% of the World population has been infected with Toxoplasmosis, yet you don't see people running towards lions at every corner.
The path how the parasite infects rodents, then cats, then humans is very complex and not at all consistent, most articles on the Internet dumb it down way too much.
This Youtuber has an awesome explanation on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdlHNhrMw-A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdlHNhrMw-A
Also, his channel is translated from Hungarian, it's an awesome channel btw.
- TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago> yet you don't see people running towards lions at every corner. The headline says more reckless. I wouldn’t consider it a stretch to say some people are definitely more reckless. Whether there’s a causal link, I couldn’t say.
- SuoDuanDao 5y agoThere's a theory that toxoplasmosis, given it can transfer from cats to humans, is the reason for the 'crazy cat lady' stereotype. Certainly, cat owners I've known seem more likely to have 'attacks' of extreme aggression than the general population, and giving vent to that does seem like a 'risk' to our status in the community that most of us don't take. Then again, having that sort of temperament may make someone more suited to owning cats than other pets...
- ptha 5y agoThe article described something specific that could be tested. I leave it to the scientist to design a similarly specific experiment for humans. Also the "reckless" behaviour exhibited by the cubs disappeared after there were older than 1 year: While uninfected cubs stayed an average of 300 feet away from lions, cubs that had Toxoplasma antibodies in their blood had ventured within an average of 142 feet from the predators, a dangerous proximity. These differences disappeared after the cubs turned one, perhaps because the survivors learned not to get too close to the felines.
- trhway 5y agoso those infected survivors got much closer than the healthy ones and yet survived. Sounds like a [harsh] filter for the high survivability traits which may be beneficial for the population, and that may explain why the [susceptibility to the] infection hasn't been selected out.
- Retric 5y agoPossibly, but luck isn’t an inheritable trait.
- thinkingemote 5y ago> yet you don't see people running towards lions at every corner Oh, but you do see people running towards cats! They keep them indoors and feed them.
- User23 5y agoPerhaps in more complex organisms there is a more complex response to the pathogen? It could trigger any number of maladaptive behaviors in humans and it would be hard to know if it was the parasite or one of the many other unfortunate environmental factors of the modern world.
- eru 5y agoIt might even trigger adaptive behaviours.
- justshowpost 5y agoToxoplasma is dormant in humans. What is really interesting – how human toxoplasma prevalence varies per country.