POZ Community Forums
Off Topic Forums => Off Topic Forum => Topic started by: ACinKC on August 04, 2006, 02:01:34 pm
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I just found the reason some of those in the Fears Forum are the way they ARE!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,207050,00.html
A parasitic microbe commonly found in cats might have helped shape entire human cultures by manipulating the personalities of infected individuals, according to a new study.
Infection by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii could make some individuals more prone to some forms of neuroticism, and could lead to differences among cultures if enough people are infected, says Kevin Lafferty, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
In a survey of different countries, Lafferty found that people living in those with higher rates of T. gondii infection scored higher on average for neuroticism, which is defined as an emotional or mental disorder characterized by high levels of anxiety, insecurity or depression.
His finding is detailed on the Web site for the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biology.
Manipulating behavior
T. gondii infects both wild and domestic cats, but it is carried by many warm-blooded mammals.
One recent study showed that the parasite makes normally cautious rats outgoing and more prone to engage in reckless behavior, such as hanging around areas frequently marked by cat urine, making the rats easy targets
Scientists estimate that the parasite has infected about 3 billion people, or about half of the world's human population.
Studies by researchers in the Czech Republic have suggested T. gondii might have subtle but long-term effects on its human hosts.
The parasite is thought to have different, and often opposite, effects in men and women, but both genders appear to develop a form of neuroticism called "guilt proneness."
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I always suspected cats were controlling the humans and not vice versa. Fiendishly clever.
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Yup, I'm guilty of that. I'm guilty of it. That's me. Guilty!
BB
I like cats.
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If Fox news said it, it must be true :-\
They are paranoid - worse than they were. Is it all real in there? I gave up a while ago.
R