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April 04, 2007
Toxoplasma Gondii
Toxoplasma gondi - a parasite found in cat feces associated with behavioral changes in humans- has been getting a great deal of coverage recently. BoingBoing has posted a few articles on Toxoplasmosis. Corante addressed the parasite through an excellent article back in January of 2006. wikipedia, medline, eMedicine, and the CDC each have sheets on the disease. The sheets indicate that up to 40% of the adult population in the US might show evidence of a toxo infection in blood. Typically adults get it in the womb (it travels from mother to child).
The CDC et al focus on accepted clinical manifestations of toxo but the articles focus on some new (somewhat slim) research leads that suggest adult women become more outgoing when infected while adult men tend to become more jealous and, possibly, schizophrenic, noting (1) rats suffering from Toxoplasmosis tend to lose their fear of cats and (2) Toxo-infected rats regain their fear of cats when treated with standard anti-schizophrenia drugs
So this is great, because it explains cat ownership to some degree. I suspect, however, that Toxo is only one of a wide variety of parasites competing for neurological control. All of them up there, leading us to walk in bare feet on grass, spend excessive amounts of time near open water, dress small dogs in silly outfits, have anything to do with horses, putter about in our gardens, and watch the Ricki Lake show. In the end, it just adds one more layer of complexity to our own mental ecosystems. I, for one, love the thought that the devil on my shoulder comes with its own Latin name and its own gram negative stain.
| By jb | 08:33 AM