All Things Bright and Beautiful

All Things Bright and Beautiful

by A Person | Published on July 5th, 2010, 11:04 am | Science

Thank you, the kids and I enjoyed that very much. They were a little freaked out but both thought it was "cool". Nothing like brainwashing your hostage victim.

Holy crackin mother of Allah... that's some disturbing stuff.... What the eff does it do to humans?

It is quite common for parasites to change the mental behaviour of its hosts. Rats and mice infected with toxoplasmosis develop behaviours that are dangerous to the rodent because they increase the change of it being caught and eaten by a cat - furthering the goals of the toxoplasmosis parasite.

Rodents infected with T. gondii are more active (Hay et al. 1983, 1984), first to enter traps (Webster et al. 1994), and less fearful of cats and their associated smells (Berdoy et al. 2000). Mice infected with T. gondii have elevated levels of dopamine (Stibbs 1985), a neurotransmitter known to alter novelty-seeking (Benjamin et al. 1996; Ebstein et al. 1996) and neuroticism

I'm wondering what a rat, infected with toxoplasmosis, is thinking when it indulges in dangerous behaviour - teasing or taunting a cat with actions it would normally avoid for very good reasons. Would it perhaps be similar to those feelings the religious get when they indulge in self harming behaviours such as sacrifice and self flagellation?

Humans can get toxoplasmosis too. In some parts of the world over 40% of the population are infected

Ever wondered what behavioural changes toxoplasmosis could induce in humans?

How are populations with a high prevalence of T. gondii different? Individuals in populations that are ‘masculine’ in the sex-role cultural dimension reinforce traditional gender work roles, gender differentiation, and have a higher focus on ego, ambition, money, material possessions, self-achievement and work than on relationships, people, social support and quality of life (Hofstede 2001). Individuals in populations that rate high in the cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations, leading to a rule-oriented society geared to reduce uncertainty (Hofstede 2001). These cultural effects were only apparent in Western populations, suggesting that if T. gondii does affect cultural dimension, then it does not drive differences seen among the major cultural groups (e.g. Western, African, Asian). Tests among Western nations were possible owing to adequate sample sizes. Further data would be needed to address this question in African and Asian nations, but this underscores the possibility that effects of T. gondii might not be uniform among cultures.

Perhaps the relatively recent changes to more caring, less gender role specific, less neurotic and freer societies is due to better hygiene and a reduction in toxoplasmosis or other parasite infections?

Maybe your worldview is controlled by parasites?

Is God a protozoan?

(quotes from this paper)

When i got pregnant with Serenity I was working at the vet. For fear of contracting toxoplasmosis I was no longer allowed to change litter boxes. It seemed like a very low risk to me but the Vet. was very strict that I follow his orders on this.

It's dangerous for the developing fetus if the mother catches it while pregnant, otherwise it mostly goes unnoticed.

In 1994 around 23% of Americans tested positive for toxoplasmosis, Britain 6.6% and France 48%

Economist

I've been told that if these parasites invade a human there's a good chance they'll be brainwashed into believing they are atheist and into visiting a place called "Greensboring" for re-enforcemnet by other brainwashed victims.

We'll file that under 'Things BHL has been told'

Here's what can happen to a baby's retina from congenital toxoplasmosis infection

The world has some stunningly ugly facts to deal with at times. I found out over the weekend that a gaming friend was diagnosed with lung cancer, at the age of 24. He's a non-smoker, but he started coughing up blood last week. No telling what the future hold for him, but it sure won't be pleasant.

All Things Bright and Beautiful

Below is the local version, found in my garden on a tobacco worm. The life cycle for these particular wasps must be a bit different from those in the video, as I later saw the same worm hanging, brown and deflated.