{"id":2099,"date":"2022-12-02T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/?p=2099"},"modified":"2023-01-02T20:50:52","modified_gmt":"2023-01-02T20:50:52","slug":"toxoplasmosis-induced-behavioral-changes-not-just-for-rodents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/animal-science\/toxoplasmosis-induced-behavioral-changes-not-just-for-rodents\/","title":{"rendered":"Toxoplasmosis-Induced Behavioral Changes: Not Just for Rodents!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Saying \u201cThe Devil made me do it\u201d is a well-known and lighthearted \u2013 but ultimately meaningless \u2013 way of exploiting theology to avoid accountability for our actions. But saying \u201cThe protozoans made me do it,\u201d even if it doesn’t roll off the tongue quite so easily, actually has some scientific backing. There is a growing body of evidence that parasites play a large role in influencing animal behaviors<\/a>\u2026 and one of the best known,\u00a0Toxoplasma gondii<\/em>, lives in the bellies of North America\u2019s second-most beloved pet: the common housecat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The parasite\u00a0Toxoplasma gondii<\/em>\u00a0can only complete its reproduction cycle inside domestic and wild cats.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Many animal lovers already know about the effect of toxoplasmosis on rodents. In a nutshell, cats are the only host T. gondii<\/em> can reproduce inside of\u2026 and wouldn\u2019t you know it: toxoplasmosis-infected rats don\u2019t show the same aversion to cat urine, making these rodents (and the parasites they are carrying) more likely to find their way into a cat\u2019s stomach. This is a convenient coincidence (except for the rat)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But such convenient coincidences may be just the tip of the iceberg. Newer research in the wild shows\u00a0T. gondii<\/em>-infected chimps and hyena cubs attracted to the urine of large, predatory cats. And infected humans display differences in behavior, too. While the odds of us being eaten by a cat are quite small, people suffering from toxoplasmosis engage in notably more risk-taking behaviors, and demonstrate less fear of failure when compared to the general population. Past experiences, our environment, genes, and social expectations are well-known factors that shape behavior, but as we\u2019re learning with parasites like T. gondii, there may be numerous lesser-known \u2013 but significant \u2013 factors at play, as well!<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Resources<\/strong>
\u2605     Brain parasite may strip away rodents’ fear of predators\u2014not just of cats<\/a>
\u2605     Toxoplasmosis in Cats<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saying \u201cThe Devil made me do it\u201d is a well-known and lighthearted \u2013 but ultimately meaningless \u2013 way of exploiting theology to avoid accountability for our actions. But saying \u201cThe protozoans made me do it,\u201d even if it doesn’t roll off the tongue quite so easily, actually has some scientific backing. There is a growing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2101,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099\/revisions\/2101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}