There ’s a cat - borne parasite that has , in the past , been link to increased rates ofsuicide , imprint , and genial illness in septic human . However , a novel cogitation inPLOS ONEconcludes that the connection between these ailments andToxoplasma gondiimay be overblown . adverse to what previous study have suggest , this sponger is probably notcontrolling your mind .
T. gondiiis a particularly deceptive leech known to alter thebehavior of miceand , more recently , maybe evenchimpanzees too . Although mouse normally avoid the smell of cat urine – a sure sign that they are entering the territory of one of their predators – infected black eye actuallyseek it out , severely reducing their life expectancy as a result . bozo are the only know animals in which the parasite can sexually regurgitate , so this self-destructive behavior in mice increases the prospect thatT. gondiisuccessfully infects a feline emcee .
Cat - owner are likely to pick up this parasite from theirpets . While it ’s not able to reproduce in ahuman server , it is known to sometimes causetoxoplasmosis , a experimental condition that ’s dangerous to pregnant women or those with a soften immune system . But can this parasite – which may be hiding within50 percentof the human race – also adversely affect our psychology ?
late inquiry had linked the leech to mental upset , includingschizophrenia , but this could also be somewhat co-occurrent . The squad from Duke University decided to find more direct grounds of the sponger ’s supposed head - altering effects within septic humans .
Blood samples from over 800 , 38 - year - onetime New Zealanders were taken , and 28 percent tested positive for the parasite . All were show participant of theDunedin Longitudinal Study , a long - term project that has been abide by their health since birth . Using this database , the squad could strictly compare the genial and strong-arm conditions of the infected with the uninfected .
A T. gondii tissue paper cyst within a mouse brain . Jitinder P. Dubey / USDA
First off , contagion withT. gondiiwas not depict to be linked to neurological disorder , including major depression or schizophrenic disorder . Additionally , meaning personality dispute between septic and uninfected participant were indistinguishable . The parasite was also not shown to lead to an increase in ego - injury behaviors , criminal article of faith or traffic - related accidents , wayward to previous study .
However , suicidal behavior – the key trait exhibited in infected mice – was found to be more common in septic man , but only very slightly . Similarly , after being given 14 disjoined measure designed to test computer memory , intelligence and oecumenical neurological functioning , the infected cohort were found to do marginally worse on just one of them .
Overall , however , the data link between the leech and negative alteration to human cognition was prove to beextremely limited . Nearly 1,000 masses is a decent size of it for this type of medical subject field , but if you ’re unconvinced , a old study using 7,440 participant also reportedmostly no linkbetween the leech and various mood disorders .
So it appears that at present tense there is no strong , direct grounds linking the parasitic infection in humans to self-destructive tendencies , depressiveness , or schizophrenia . respectable news for true cat hoarders , then .
