Parasitic Brain Control and You

***Ace Mercury*** · 06-12-2005, 04:12 PM

Link (contains links to news and scientific articles)

The highlight of the post was the Toxoplasma parasite, which has the ability to migrate into the brain and re-wire some stuff as it sees fit. Rats infected by Toxoplasma lose their fear of cats and have a lowered reaction time, thus making them easy prey for cats, which is the preferred environment for the parasite. The parasite infects the cat, multiplies, and it's faeces are eaten by rats. Thus, the parasite spreads and spreads. The part that makes me care is that humans infected with Toxoplasma (which is a startlingly high amount) also exhibit altered behaviours, including the lowered reaction times.

I don't know about you guys, but the concept of various parasites burrowing and multiplying in your brain, while subtly altering your behaviour is kind of cool and unsettling at the same time. I think I'll take a nap.

(Sorry if this is a repost)

***Cosmonautical*** · 06-13-2005, 07:57 PM

A disease that makes people French is not necessarily a very believable scenario.

06-12-2005, 04:12 PM	#1
*Ace Mercury* Marshmallow Knight ☆ Supermod Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Southern Ontario Gender: Posts: 23,275 Thanks: 568 Thanked 3,297 Times in 1,582 Posts Blog Entries: 1	Link (contains links to news and scientific articles) The highlight of the post was the Toxoplasma parasite, which has the ability to migrate into the brain and re-wire some stuff as it sees fit. Rats infected by Toxoplasma lose their fear of cats and have a lowered reaction time, thus making them easy prey for cats, which is the preferred environment for the parasite. The parasite infects the cat, multiplies, and it's faeces are eaten by rats. Thus, the parasite spreads and spreads. The part that makes me care is that humans infected with Toxoplasma (which is a startlingly high amount) also exhibit altered behaviours, including the lowered reaction times. I don't know about you guys, but the concept of various parasites burrowing and multiplying in your brain, while subtly altering your behaviour is kind of cool and unsettling at the same time. I think I'll take a nap. (Sorry if this is a repost)

06-13-2005, 07:57 PM	#2
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,102 Thanks: 2,157 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	A disease that makes people French is not necessarily a very believable scenario.