August 09, 2006

We've all heard about toxoplasmosis, a common parasite found in cats (especially if you or your partner has ever been pregnant). Kevin Lafferty, a parasite ecologist, believes the parasite may cause big personality changes in humans.

While Lafferty admits that his research is in its early stages, he wonders if these personality changes could have effects on the culture at large -- especially since the personality changes aren't usually anti-social.

posted by meredithea 18 years ago
  • Gosh could this be the explanation for the existence of so many crazy cat ladies?
  • I suddenly feel the urge to surrender to a cat and allow myself to be eaten.
  • Is that you talking, or your toxoplasmotic overlords?
  • I was pretty freaked out by the picture of the cat staring at me as I read the article. At least it wasn't ceiling cat, but I still felt it's eyes gazing into me. It seemed to be asking, "Well, whatchya gonna do about it, huh?"
  • I find this to be responsible fear-mongering. Clearly as long as you keep your ingestion of cat excrement to reasonable levels, there is nothing to worry about.
  • My doctor says I'm clean of toxoplasmosis, but my myxomatosis might compell me want to surrender to and be eaten by a bunny. I just can't win.
  • Luckily for me with my turtles I am only at risk for Salmonella which has so far not been linked to any mind control.
  • So... where can I plunk this $30 down and get a test?
  • this is interesting. mrs roryk had to have a blood test every month while pregnant to make sure she hadn't contracted toxoplasmosis. according to a nurse friend, most of the french population already has it.
  • ...while infected men tend to be less intelligent and probably a bit boring... ...most of the french population already has it... Hmm.
  • ...most of the french population already has it... 90% according to this site
  • I surrendered to the feline overlords decades ago, when the revolution comes I'll be handing out nip on every corner :D
  • Research has shown that women who are infected with the parasite tend to be more warm, outgoing and attentive to others... So ladies, when a man gives you a kitten, be aware that it's not just a kitten he is giving you. HE IS GIVING YOU MIND CONTROL. It's the gift that keeps on giving...to him.
  • A friend of mine has had toxiplasmosis since she was eighteen. I didn't know her as a teenager, but she seems mostly normal to me. Of course, she'd probably fit in well in France.
  • A friend of mine is pregnant, and she asked her doc if she should get rid of her cat (her husband is so allergic that he can't have anything to do with any cat maintenance at all, so she has to be the one to do the cat box). Her doc told her that if she was going to be infected she already was, so not to worry about it. My OB, on the other hand, told me to avoid cats like the plague. Mr. meredithea wanted to get a kitty to keep Steve the dog company, but we can't until after the baby comes, I guess. (Maybe a good idea... now he wants a puppy so Steve can have a "pack.")
  • I thought it was interesting that most of the personality changes were either negligible or desired by society -- wanting to please others (sometimes to the point of neurosis), guilt when we hurt feelings, etc.... Kitties really *are* ruling the world.
  • A scene somewhere in France: Woman to therapist: I am so warm, outgoing, and attentive to others, while he is less intelligent and a bit boring. Therapist to man: How do you feel when she says that? Man to room, while stroking a cat: Meh.
  • Sounds like Fritz Leiber's Green Millenium.
  • although we've known about this for quite some time... the risks and effects are hardly as breezy or banal as the abcnews article would suggest (not unlike every other "science"/"health" story) considering the implications, (car accidents, schizophrenia, crazy cat ladies, etc) this is really a Big Deal. and fwiw you can get it (perhaps more likely?) from eating undercooked meat, too. see pubmed for more.
  • > you can get it from eating undercooked meat hence the incidence in france, i think. tartare de boeuf, anyone?
  • yep
  • Cats make men boring? Surely not. Hey, did I ever tell you about that time I was in the queue in Asda, waiting to pay? I can't remember exactly what I was buying, though it was probably the weekly shop, you know, bread, milk, chicken, pasta, pesto, eggs, cheese, butter, cat food and biscuits - unfortunately they seem to have stopped selling the stuff the cats usually like so I was probably buying something different, ham, mayo, cereal, washing up liquid, maybe those little bags I put my sandwiches in, but I only buy them once every few weeks cos the one pack will last quite a while, washing powder, maybe some prawns, bananas, mushrooms, probably some carrots or something, and then like I say I was in the queue, checking out the little packets of sweets they have there so the kids can mither their parents for them as they wait to pay, and I thought to myself, heck, I don't really like any of those sweets, so I didn't buy any. Sorry, what were we talking about again?
  • Meow.
  • Of course I said above that we were going to wait to get a cat, or maybe get another dog, but we saw the sweetest kitty at the pet store today (from a shelter, not for sale by the store) and we had to get her. She's seven years old, and has a slightly wonky jawline from an old injury (that doesn't seem to bother her a bit), and she had been at the shelter for months and months, and the thought of her never being adopted broke our hearts. She is the mellowest kitty ever. Right now she and the dog are studiously ignoring each other. Mr. meredithea has agreed to do all of the kitty care for the foreseeable future to avoid any danger to me (while I do doggy duty). And the kitty's name (that she came with already, so we knew it was meant to be)? Monkey!
  • PHOTOS!!!!!
  • And I promise to keep the pwecious kitty baby talk to a minimum.
  • Yes, photos. NOW.
  • kitty porn pics please!!
  • some ideas: photo of monkey on steve's back photo of monkey sleeping beside steve photo of monkey and steve sharing food
  • who is steve?
  • Makes me think of the Hypnotoad from Futurama.
  • Steve is my wee little puppy. He's half chihuahua and half pug (we think). He's the silliest dog ever. Here is Steve. I just put some pictures of the Monkey up on my blog, which are here and here. I can't quite get the pictures of Steve and Monkey eating together or sleeping together yet, because they're still trying to figure each other out. Yesterday there was a little barking/growling (though Monkey didn't hiss once), and today so far they're trying to pretend that the other doesn't exist. (Actually, Monkey is trying to pretend that everyone doesn't exist... she may be an independent little thing, but that's cool. I'm independent too!) However, they're pretty much exactly the same size, and they're both basically loveable, so we're hoping they're friends before too long.
  • Ooooooooooh, Sweetie-Munkee-Muffin! Blickety-blicky-blacky-blick-black-blackie! Seriously, she's a stunner.
  • ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD!!!!
  • You said on your post "a couple" of pictures of Monkey, meredithea. But there's only one! *lower lip trembles*
  • I thought I put two up... do they not both work? If not, I'll try to take another :) Monkey update: She has taken up residence on the top of the couch, and hasn't moved. There she stays, and when we try to pull her down into our laps she doesn't hiss or meow, but she gets up at the first opportunity and goes back to her spot. We have evidence that she ate and used her box in the night, so she's fine, but we're hoping she gets a little more mobile when she feels more comfortable.
  • glad to hear she's settling in well. the second picture is here (the original link refers to localhost) and is quite wonderful. i like the tiny splash of white on monkey's chest.
  • Why is there no beer joke in this thread?
  • Happy New Beer! (okay, maybe that wasn't so funny)