Toxoplasma Parasite Mind Control

sarongsong · #1 (**permalink**) 14-February-2006, 04:06 AM

"...toxoplasma gondii is a common parasite found in the guts of cats...If the parasite can alter rat behavior, does it have any effect on humans?..." Technovelgy.com
Chalk up another one for Heinlein, on this "where science meets fiction" site.

Sammy · #2 (**permalink**) 14-February-2006, 04:25 AM

I hope my cat (an active mouser) doesn't read this......

The purported link to parasitic infection and schizophrenia does not ring true to me. The U.S. has rather low rates of parasitic infection, so there should be relatively low rates of diagnosed schizophrenia, which is not the case. That said, under-developed countries tend to have higher rates of parasitic infection, but poor mental health screening and treatment which would undercount people with schizophrenia.

The Puppet Masters is one of the first SF novels I ever read, and still one of my favorites.

01101001 · #3 (**permalink**) 14-February-2006, 04:31 AM

Earlier mentioned, briefly, within topic cat is responsible for verious deceases!

sarongsong · #4 (**permalink**) 14-February-2006, 04:53 AM

Wow---we've just about got our own bautipedia going on here---I did search for 'toxoplasma', tho, with no hits. Good eye!

01101001 · #5 (**permalink**) 14-February-2006, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarongsong

Wow---we've just about got our own bautipedia going on here---I did search for 'toxoplasma', tho, with no hits. Good eye!

I just remembered seeing "schizophrenia" mentioned.

sarongsong · #6 (**permalink**) 15-February-2006, 03:34 AM

Dr. Wasp, I presume...

Quote:

...a wasp that has evolved to tackle roaches, insert a stinger into their brains and disable their escape reflexes...[then] use the roach's antennae to steer the roach to its lair, where it can lay its egg in it...

teri tait · #7 (**permalink**) 15-February-2006, 03:47 AM

I smell tuna

Sammy · #8 (**permalink**) 15-February-2006, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarongsong

Wow---we've just about got our own bautipedia going on here---I did search for 'toxoplasma', tho, with no hits. Good eye!

It's toxoplasmosis. I was wrong about the degree of infestation in the U.S. From the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasi...mosis.htm#what:

Quote:

<H4>What is toxoplasmosis?

Quote:

A single-celled parasite called Toxoplasma gondii causes a disease known as toxoplasmosis. While the parasite is found throughout the world, more than 60 million people in the United States may be infected with the Toxoplasma parasite. Of those who are infected, very few have symptoms because a healthy person's immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness. However, pregnant women and individuals who have compromised immune systems should be cautious; for them, a Toxoplasma infection could cause serious health problems.

How do people get toxoplasmosis?

A Toxoplasma infection occurs by:

Accidentally swallowing cat feces from a Toxoplasma-infected cat that is shedding the organism in its feces. This might happen if you were to accidentally touch your hands to your mouth after gardening, cleaning a cat's litter box, or touching anything that has come into contact with cat feces. Eating contaminated raw or partly cooked meat, especially pork, lamb, or venison; by touching your hands to your mouth after handling undercooked meat.
Contaminating food with knives, utensils, cutting boards and other foods that have had contact with raw meat.
Drinking water contaminated with Toxoplasma.
Receiving an infected organ transplant or blood transfusion, though this is rare.

What are the symptoms of toxoplasmosis?

Symptoms of the infection vary.

Most people who become infected with Toxoplasma are not aware of it.
Some people who have toxoplasmosis may feel as if they have the "flu" with swollen lymph glands or muscle aches and pains that last for a month or more.
Severe toxoplasmosis, causing damage to the brain, eyes, or other organs, can develop from an acute Toxoplasma infection or one that had occurred earlier in life and is now reactivated. Severe cases are more likely in individuals who have weak immune systems, though occasionally, even persons with healthy immune systems may experience eye damage from toxoplasmosis.
Most infants who are infected while still in the womb have no symptoms at birth, but they may develop symptoms later in life. A small percentage of infected newborns have serious eye or brain damage at birth

</H4>

sarongsong · #9 (**permalink**) 20-February-2006, 04:25 AM

February 19, 2006
"Cat parasite 'is killling otters'...Toxoplasma gondii; at the root of the otter decline..."

Philip A · #10 (**permalink**) 21-February-2006, 01:47 AM

I remember hearing about this a few years ago. One thing I remember (but can't find any links to

) was that infection was very high in France, and was causing very minor psychological changes in humans. As I recall, the changes were gender based. Women tended to being 'sex kittens', taking more care of appearance and having more lovers than average/before; whilst men tended to become more like tomcats, becoming more surly and less interested in appearance.
As I said, can't find any link for this, but did find this...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/850556.stm

publiusr · #11 (**permalink**) 09-March-2006, 10:15 PM

Now what was that grub that gets into the antennae of snails so to be eaten by birds?

aries_4_5_48 · #12 (**permalink**) 10-March-2006, 03:07 AM

...parasites are fascinating and at times, a little unsettling, to me. There is a nematode that only reproduces in the stomach of a sheep. It enters the body of an ant, migrates through the body to the brain, and seizes control. It 'instructs' the ant to climb to the tip of a blade of grass, and sit there without moving until the grass is eaten. If it is not eaten by a sheep, it passes through the digestive tract of the animal that ate the grass, finds another ant and repeats the process...one of the most famous examples is a parasite that literally devours the tongue of a fish, and attaches itself where the tongue used to be, performs all the functions the 'true' tongue did, minus its 'cut'...life, on a basic level, is all about deception, consumption and reproduction.....imagine that......

Gullible Jones · #13 (**permalink**) 10-March-2006, 04:45 AM

Any parasite that attacks the CNS will alter behavior; it's a given. I'm guessing that the gender-dependent effects observed in France are related to the parasite interfering with higher-level brain functions, resulting in less inhibited behavior... Seems likely enough to me, though I'm having some trouble finding sources for that which cite actual scientific studies on that particular effect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Other studies suggest that the parasite may influence personality. There are claims of toxoplasma causing antisocial attitudes in men and promiscuity[11] (or even "signs of higher intelligence"[12]) in women, and greater susceptibility to schizophrenia and manic depression[13] in all infected persons. A review of research focused on the schizophrenia connection confirms an association but does not confirm a causal relationship [14].

Link with schizophrenia? Possible. Increased intelligence? Very unlikely, I would think, especially given this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Joanne Webster

"There is some initial research that has found hyperactivity and low IQ in children with high Toxoplasma levels.

(Also, I'm going to have to put in the mandatory cultural bias warning: in Western culture, sexual promiscuity is almost always considered to be associated with high intelligence - people like Hugh Hefner are often cited as having ridiculously high IQs. The effects of innate biases (and manipulative, id-centric personalities!) on such studies have to be taken into account.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Studies have found that toxoplasmosis is associated with an increased auto accident rate, roughly doubling or tripling the chance of an accident relative to uninfected people [5][6]. This may be due to the decreased reaction times that are associated with infection [7]. "If our data are true then about a million people a year die just because they are infected with toxoplasma," the researcher Jaroslav Flegr told The Guardian[8].

Slower reflexes and reduced inhibitions definitely go together in other instances. I wonder if toxoplasma messes with the same receptor sites as alcohol?

TriangleMan · #14 (**permalink**) 10-March-2006, 12:14 PM

Here's another example of a parasite affecting it's host behaviour. Scary.

beskeptical · #15 (**permalink**) 10-March-2006, 07:55 PM

I posted on this else where but missed this thread. This claim is being misrepresented. Toxoplasmosis is a known teratogen. Meaning it causes birth defects. It's why pregnant women shouldn't be emptying the cat's litter box. It may be that toxoplasmosis ends up having a connection to schizophrenia but it isn't infecting brains and changing the person's behaviors as implied. Sammy has posted the facts. Sarong's article titled, Toxoplasma Parasite Mind Control, misrepresents them.

sarongsong · #16 (**permalink**) 11-March-2006, 01:37 AM

How so?

Gullible Jones · #17 (**permalink**) 11-March-2006, 02:01 AM

BTW, while we're at it, AIDS dementia complex is not caused by toxoplasma. It's the result of infection of immune cells in the brain, which alters their behavior and causes them to release chemicals that are inimical to neurons. It isn't uncommon for opportunistic infections to damage the CNS in AIDS victims, but ADC is a form of central nervous system damage caused (albeit indirectly) by the virus itself.

beskeptical · #18 (**permalink**) 11-March-2006, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarongsong

How so?

There were several examples of a parasite changing a single behavior in the host. Ants that climbed up grass and were eaten by cows, and rats (or was it mice) that lost their fear of cat urine, both benefiting the parasite. To go from that and imply mind control is much to big a stretch to be realistic. SciFi stories have such events as a parasite controlling human minds. Changing a single behavior in an insect or animal that inherits that behavior rather than learns it is nothing like controlling behaviors of a human brain.

In addition, causing a brain defect in a fetus that leads to schizophrenia is hardly akin to a parasite controlling one's mind.

beskeptical · #19 (**permalink**) 11-March-2006, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gullible Jones

BTW, while we're at it, AIDS dementia complex is not caused by toxoplasma. It's the result of infection of immune cells in the brain, which alters their behavior and causes them to release chemicals that are inimical to neurons. It isn't uncommon for opportunistic infections to damage the CNS in AIDS victims, but ADC is a form of central nervous system damage caused (albeit indirectly) by the virus itself.

Gullible, I'm impressed.

publiusr · #20 (**permalink**) 15-March-2006, 09:38 PM

Well researched.

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