5 ms·
Toxoplasma Could Manipulate Our Behavior
- fragsworth 12y ago> Toxoplasma gondii, can override a rodent's most basic survival instincts. The result is a rodent that does not race away from a cat but is instead strangely attracted to it. Perhaps humans who think cats are cute are actually experiencing the same effect from the parasite.
- kbenson 12y agoHere's some prior submissions about this or that are on the same subject[1][2][3]. I think I'm missing a more recent one with more comments though. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1420315 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1420315 2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3573694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3573694 3: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=789517 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=789517
- CapitalistCartr 12y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8443309 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8443309
- roye 12y agoDespite the title, I found the details regarding rodent brains and the kiss and spit mechanism much more engaging and convincing than the discussion of effects on humans.
- biggerfisch 12y ago> Then they sacrificed the animals and looked at their brains. That seems... extreme. Interesting word choice there!
- cafebeen 12y agoSurprisingly, this is the norm for research with animal models
- trhway 12y ago> animal models Strange, i never heard "human model" in the research context. I've always felt that the usage of "animal model" is a reprehensible euphemism here. Research on animals. Minimum we owe them is to call it as it is.
- aaronem 12y ago“Sacrifice” is common scientific parlance for the killing of experimental animals.
- deeviant 12y agoIn the name of Science (and Cthulhu) I sacrifice you!
- _abattoir 12y agoThere's a god for that. [0] Although she would more likely be miffed that you offed one of her progeny. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu_Mythos_deities#Bast http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu_Mythos_deities#Bast
- csixty4 12y agoWhy, yes, it has been a couple months since the last Toxoplasma freakout in the press. Guess we were due for one.
- Houshalter 12y agoIs there any way to treat it?
- RyanMcGreal 12y agoFTA: Once infected, a person will remain a carrier for life. Our immune system is apparently incapable of eliminating the tissue cysts, nor can any known drug.
- kenj0418 12y ago> Instead of smelling danger, the rats smell love. The story of my life.
- pingou 12y ago"Curiously, infected men found cat urine odor more pleasant than uninfected men; in women, the opposite occurred." I read somewhere that they sometimes put this odor in perfumes (such as Chanel 5), I find it interesting to see this process must make it less attractive to women and more to to men, I wonder if they also put it in men's perfumes.
- deeviant 12y agoI've had cats for all my life and I would assume to be "infected" by this point, but I can say, without reservation, I have never enjoyed the smell of cat urine.
- _abattoir 12y agoThat's not a data point in itself ;) How does your hate for the scent stack up against your friends of the same sex?
- deeviant 12y agoRelatively equal, or close enough to not be measurable by casual observation influenced by the variances of long-term memory.
- viggity 12y agoIIRC, the infection rate in the US is relatively low, but other countries (Brazil) are extremely high.
- aaronem 12y agoIf you’ve never had or lived around outdoor cats, you’re almost certainly not infected.
- Datsundere 12y agoHere is a podcast from radiolab that talk about parasites http://www.radiolab.org/story/91689-parasites/ http://www.radiolab.org/story/91689-parasites/
- mariodiana 12y ago> infected women tend to be extraverted, trusting and obedient. In light of the stereotype of the spinster cat lady, I find this very difficult to believe. You'd think some man somewhere would pick up on that.