Very Interesting - Cat vs. Rat research

PDXcluck

Chirping
7 Years
Mar 21, 2012
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Quote: Full text of the research at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1690701/pdf/11007336.pdf

Basically, the research states that rats that are infected by Toxoplasma gondii, most likely from cat feces, are more likely to be attracted to the scent of cats, are therefore more likely to frequent areas where cats are present, and thus are more likely to be predated upon by a cat!

Absolutely fascinating research and applicable to many discussions here...

enjoy!
 
That is pretty interesting. I wonder what the mechanism of action was for the Toxoplasmosis was and what changed neurologically to make the rat attracted to a scent that it would normally avoid.
 
Oh ok, I read the study. The level of anxiety seems to reduced, so that they don't avoid signs of predators. It's kind of creepy that there are reports that if humans are infected, they can show signs of changed personality.
 
That is amusing. There is also a similar study with malaria infected mosquitoes. Ones with the parasite will bite multiple hosts thus increasing the spread of disease, vs non infected ones, which bite one and go on to breed. Creepy part about the malaria study was the test subjects were a panel of humans with different blood types. They collected the infested mosquitoes and tested for what blood types were in it!
 
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