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Old 28th February 2012, 10:19 AM   #1
Bob001
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Are cat parasites eating your brain?

According to this Atlantic magazine article, an evolutionary biologist is gaining support for his long-held theory that housecats are transmitting toxoplasmosis parasites to human brains, and that the parasites are having broader and more serious effects than has been generally recognized, including schizophrenia and suicide. Any thoughts?

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...ngle_page=true
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Old 28th February 2012, 10:19 AM   #2
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I'll second the motion.
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Old 28th February 2012, 10:35 AM   #3
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If true, it's still better than being infected with the T-virus.
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Old 28th February 2012, 10:37 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Bob001 View Post
According to this Atlantic magazine article, an evolutionary biologist is gaining support for his long-held theory that housecats are transmitting toxoplasmosis parasites to human brains, and that the parasites are having broader and more serious effects than has been generally recognized, including schizophrenia and suicide. Any thoughts?

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...ngle_page=true
Probably not. And I'll be reporting your to my feline overlord when he's awoken from his late afternoon/pre-first dinner nap.
Previous thread.
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Old 28th February 2012, 10:38 AM   #5
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So the question is, do the crazy cat ladies get lots of cats because they're crazy, or are they crazy because of all the cats?
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Old 28th February 2012, 10:39 AM   #6
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OK, this quote set off every alarm my brain has to offer:

Quote:
Starting in the early 1990s, he began to suspect that a single-celled parasite in the protozoan family was subtly manipulating his personality, causing him to behave in strange, often self-destructive ways. And if it was messing with his mind, he reasoned, it was probably doing the same to others.
Maybe he needs to don a tinfoil hat.
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Old 28th February 2012, 10:48 AM   #7
aggle-rithm
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Originally Posted by aggle-rithm View Post
OK, this quote set off every alarm my brain has to offer:



Maybe he needs to don a tinfoil hat.
That's my knee-jerk reaction. However, since parasites are known to induce weird, zombie-like behavior in hosts, then maybe...


...I should get more cats. Yes, that's what I'll do, right away.
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Old 28th February 2012, 10:58 AM   #8
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Beware the cats!!!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg zombie-cat wants brains.jpg (92.6 KB, 10 views)
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Old 28th February 2012, 11:16 AM   #9
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It's true. I had a cat for many years. Then I went crazy and killed myself.
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Old 28th February 2012, 12:39 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by NotJesus View Post
It's true. I had a cat for many years. Then I went crazy and killed myself.

You got better, apparently.
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Old 29th February 2012, 12:46 AM   #11
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I have congenital toxoplasmosis, and I am boringly sane and normal. I've never killed myself, not even once, and I have never owned any designer clothing, nor will I ever. And in all my years of driving, I have never even come close to causing any accidents.

But just in case, I always take my best friend Spiny Norman the hedgehog (dressed in this really cute Armani hedgehog suit I bought him) with me when I am driving, and let him take the wheel if I am beginning to feel inattentive.
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Old 29th February 2012, 03:55 AM   #12
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It's worth pointing out that the idea that t. gondii has behavioral affects in humans is different from the specific claim that it's linked to schizophrenia.

The former is supported by evidence (see here, for instance: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/9/72), the latter, I'm not clear upon and have only heard that claim from the article linked in the OP, so thus far I don't really have an opinion one way or the other.

(From that linked paper):
Quote:
We confirmed, using for the first time a prospective cohort study design, increased risk of traffic accidents in Toxoplasma-infected subjects and demonstrated a strong protective effect of RhD positivity against the risk of traffic accidents posed by latent toxoplasmosis. Our results show that RhD-negative subjects with high titers of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies had a probability of a traffic accident of about 16.7%, i.e. a more than six times higher rate than Toxoplasma-free or RhD-positive subjects.
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Old 29th February 2012, 09:10 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by aggle-rithm View Post
OK, this quote set off every alarm my brain has to offer:



Maybe he needs to don a tinfoil hat.
Too late! The mind-controlling parasite is already inside!
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Old 2nd March 2012, 09:10 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by Mark6 View Post
Too late! The mind-controlling parasite is already inside!
At least the tinfoil would prevent it receiving instructions from the Illuminati.
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Old 2nd March 2012, 09:59 AM   #15
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Who cares? Cats are well worth the price.
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Old 2nd March 2012, 12:10 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by Mark6 View Post
Too late! The mind-controlling parasite is already inside!
The tinfoil hat is to keep the parasites from getting OUT, and getting on me.

I'd wear one myself, but...you know.
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Old 2nd March 2012, 12:11 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by Complexity View Post
Who cares? Cats are well worth the price.
Would you like four of them?
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Old 2nd March 2012, 01:05 PM   #18
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Is there other illnesses besides schizophrenia and suicide extreme depression?
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Old 2nd March 2012, 01:07 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by Bob001 View Post
According to this Atlantic magazine article, an evolutionary biologist is gaining support for his long-held theory that housecats are transmitting toxoplasmosis parasites to human brains, and that the parasites are having broader and more serious effects than has been generally recognized, including schizophrenia and suicide. Any thoughts?

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...ngle_page=true
Actually, those parasites make you smarter.

More kittehs please!
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Old 2nd March 2012, 01:40 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by catsmate1 View Post
Probably not. And I'll be reporting your to my feline overlord when he's awoken from his late afternoon/pre-first dinner nap.
Previous thread.
Heh. Will your overlord have an unbiased opinion ?
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Old 2nd March 2012, 02:06 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by m-n-m View Post
Heh. Will your overlord have an unbiased opinion ?
It's difficult to tell, he certainly would disapprove of anything that would interfere in his routine of sleeping, eating, being stroked, hunting and harassing the local wildlife.
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Old 2nd March 2012, 02:38 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by Helen View Post
I have congenital toxoplasmosis, and I am boringly sane and normal. I've never killed myself, not even once, and I have never owned any designer clothing, nor will I ever. And in all my years of driving, I have never even come close to causing any accidents.

But just in case, I always take my best friend Spiny Norman the hedgehog (dressed in this really cute Armani hedgehog suit I bought him) with me when I am driving, and let him take the wheel if I am beginning to feel inattentive.
Wait, you have toxoplasmosis, and you're a Swede,* and you haven't committed suicide?! Not ever?! I'm skeptical. Please provide evidence for your continued existence. Anecdotes and arguments from authority don't count.

*We've learned elsewhere on these fora that God punishes Swedes for their atheism/secularism by causing the vast majority of them to commit suicide. Indeed, if you believe that you have met a Swede, you are probably suffering from toxoplasmosis-induced hallucinations.
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Old 2nd March 2012, 03:34 PM   #23
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Dunno about traffic accidents and schizophrenia; but it would certainly explain the LOLcat phenomenon.
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Old 2nd March 2012, 04:23 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by Complexity View Post
Who cares? Cats are well worth the price.
And very tasty.
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Old 2nd March 2012, 05:34 PM   #25
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Cats are only cute when they're still in their larval form. Once they mature and become free-roaming flying cat heads, watch out! Nobody is safe!

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Old 4th March 2012, 01:58 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by Lucian View Post
Wait, you have toxoplasmosis, and you're a Swede,* and you haven't committed suicide?! Not ever?! I'm skeptical. Please provide evidence for your continued existence. Anecdotes and arguments from authority don't count.

*We've learned elsewhere on these fora that God punishes Swedes for their atheism/secularism by causing the vast majority of them to commit suicide. Indeed, if you believe that you have met a Swede, you are probably suffering from toxoplasmosis-induced hallucinations.
How silly of me to think I could fool you! I should have expected you to call my bluff - Swedish, atheist, and congenital toxoplasmosis; of course I commit suicide on a regular basis. And since I am feeling a little negative today, I am not sure I could provide any evidence that I have ever existed at all, we all know how hard it is to prove a negative.
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