Parasites Makes Us Dumber or Sexier 240
odie_q writes "It has long been known that the Toxoplasma gondii parasite alters its host's behavior, but now it seems the way it alters it depends on the sex of the host. From the article: 'A common parasite can increase a women's attractiveness to the opposite sex but also make men more stupid, an Australian researcher says ... Infected men have lower IQs, achieve a lower level of education and have shorter attention spans. They are also more likely to break rules and take risks, be more independent, more anti-social, suspicious, jealous and morose, and are deemed less attractive to women. On the other hand, infected women tend to be more outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and are considered more attractive to men compared with non-infected controls.'"
Interesting effects, interesting causes (Score:4, Interesting)
Things such as this hints to how our minds work, which is possibly one of the most fascinating things in the universe (:
Bicamerial mind breakdown (Score:4, Interesting)
links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_Consci
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash [wikipedia.org]
Also if you haven't read snow crash, you must do so immediately.
Re:Remember, kids! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:What are the odds... (Score:2, Interesting)
I believe that antiparasitic drugs can't cross the blood-brain barrier and kill the parasites in your brain, only in other parts of the body. So you can get this creepy parasite and be stuck for life with it breeding inside your brain. This is why I just don't put up with cats in the household. The risk is too high, the reward too small.
And finally, if I wanted a brain parasite sucking out my intelligence, I'd learn .NET programming.
Re:Bicamerial mind breakdown (Score:4, Interesting)
The barriers are required for consciousness as your first link clearly describes. If you want to see what the world looks like without the barriers then injest some psilocybe. You won't actually be doing any reasoning though. The next true phase of mind evolution will be the combination of computers with the brain, as to how that will happen, I don't know.
Re:Remember, kids! (Score:3, Interesting)
Think about it.
Does it really affect the sexes differently? (Score:2, Interesting)
Or is the behavior being interpreted differently based on gender?
It sounds like the parasite simply amplifies the affects of certain sex hormones in both sexes, and lowers inhibitions... In civilized men, too much of a good thing. (For less civilized men, it means "Jackass: The movie".) As for women, it's hard to draw conclusions about the intelligence of someone who's "more outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous". Some would consider that to be potentially more "risky," regardless of the fact that most men like the end result.
Since the rat study indicated that the parasite changed rat behavior to increase its own chances of survival (while putting the host rat at risk of being eaten by a cat), I wonder if the results of the behavior modification in humans could potentially result in more pregnancies and might therefore be a failed attempt by the parasite to insure survival as well.
Behavioral results inconsistent with mechanism (Score:3, Interesting)
If the parasite works by increasing dopamine levels in the brain, that would most certainly not decrease attention span or reaction time, it would in fact improve them, as can be seen when you take any dopaminergic drug. Higher dopamine doesn't hinder academic achievement, nor will it lower your IQ. That is ridiculous-- most of the mental benefits from cardiovascular exercise come from increased DA levels. Further, the effects of dopamine are not so sexually dimorphic in humans, the only real difference is that estrogen increases DA sensitivity. The archetypal drugs for increasing DA levels? Ritalin and Adderall.
These are low quality studies and an abomination of science to conclude that correlation = causation. Nothing is further from the truth! The main way toxoplasma is spread in humans is in eating undercooked meat. Considering the actual effects of dopamine on the brain, doesn't it seem more likely that perhaps a low IQ, low educational achievement, and risk taking/promiscuous behavior predispose one to eat or undercook meat? But even that is untested.
Toxoplasmosis linked to schizophrenia? (Score:4, Interesting)
I remember reading a few months ago that some reseachers had a found a higher incidence of schizophrenia among persons who, when small children, had had cats in their households, leading some to believe that Toxoplasmosis gondii may be a causal factor. Apparently, it is claimed that new research has confirmed this [schizophrenia.com]. This is of personal interest to me because my 14 year-old son was infected by Toxoplasmosis a couple years ago during a vist to Trinidad. Physicians suspect that the most likely source was my wife's aunt's home-made yogurt, which my kids love. My wife's aunt is an animal lover, and keeps numerous dogs and cats, as well as feeding hosts of wild birds that descend on the house every morning.
It was discovered after he complained about spots in his vision, and an opthalmological determined that there was a lesion on his retina which was flaking away. A blood test confirmed the presence of Toxoplasmosis gondii. Now he has to have an annual examination to ensure that the parasite is being kept under control by antibiotics, but it's always an extremely apprehensive time for us.