This Is Your Brain And This Is Your Brain On Bugs. Parasites And Human Behavior.

(image credit: scienceconnected.com)

When most of us hear the word parasite the first thing that pops into our minds in normally along the line of unpleasant squirming organisms living in or around something that we would do our best to avoid. But it is rare that the average person would associate parasites with behaviors like depression, schizophrenia, or suicide. Interestingly we can find many examples of parasites causing insane behaviors in other living organisms all around us. For instance, crickets are no fan of water, but when infected by a Horse Hair Worm they will jump straight in drowning themselves and the life cycle of the worm gets to carry forward. Or the common rat, when these rather unpleasant mammals are infected with a parasite called Toxoplasma they start to crave wide open spaces and even become aroused and attracted to the odor of felines. Well you can guess what happens next, the cat ate the rat, the cat gets the parasite. Not quite the lion king circle of life that Disney portrayed but the circle of life none the less. There's even a wasp called Ampulex Compressa (A.K.A The Emerald Wasp) that turns the common roach into a zombie by first stinging it, cutting off it's antennae, drinking it's blood, then driving it back to a nesting area like a car where it lays it's eggs in the roach to hatch a few days later. These are just a few examples of parasites influencing behavior in other living organisms, but do parasites influence human behavior? Well, lets look at some examples and you can decide for yourself.

(image credit: microbe wiki)

For All You Cat Lovers Out There:
The Toxoplasma Gondii is probably one of the most common parasites we carry and don't know we are carrying. In fact it's speculated that this nasty little fellow infects up to 30 percent of the people on earth and sometimes is actually passed from generation to generation. This parasite starts in cat feces normally and once it's picked up by other organisms such as a rat, it causes the rat to be attracted to the cat and the cycle continues. Human exposure normally comes from cleaning up your feline friends litter tray. Now funnily enough this nasty little guy can hang around in your brain and muscle tissue in an egg like state called tachyzoites. But once it wakes up from its nap the ugly stuff starts. Increased risk behavior, slowed reaction times, and even schizophrenia have all been documented as symptoms of T Gondii infection. There is some research that suggest that the sharp rise in domestic cat ownership in the early 20th century coincides with increased rates of schizophrenia during that period. Perhaps crazy cat women are crazy cat women for a reason? It's an interesting take and of course makes me quite happy I'm a dog person.

(image credit: parastophillia.com)

No matter How Hot It Gets, Expect Danger From Standing Water:
Ever been out on the trail hiking in the heat and passed that still pond and thought about taking a dip to cool off? Well, even if the water seems fine a real risk can lurk below its surface. The Naegleria Fowleri is a little amoeba that stays in a cyst like state for long periods but once it finds a host it transforms. Tentacles pop out and in this scary little guy goes finding his way into your nervous system. Frighteningly mother nature programmed this parasite to have an inbuilt GPS because he follows your nervous system straight to the brain with intentions of having a never ending lunch. Once the Naegleria Fowleri arrives he sprouts a suction tentacle called a amoebostome and feeds deeper and deeper into your brain tissue. Oh, and while he's eating he's also reproducing at incredible speed. Normally symptoms start within 2 to 3 hours after infection and the host is dead within 48 hours..... It's enough to put you off of a swim when out in the bush on a hot day.

image credits: studentreader.com, hudsonvalleyone.com)

The Macabre Rip Van Winkle Of Parasites:
This frightening parasite starts his life in the Tsetse Fly which is found mainly in Africa. Once the buzzing annoyance bites a human the Trypanosoma parasite makes its way into the blood stream and normally hangs around in the lymph nodes for a time before mutating and forming a whip like tail. From there it makes its way to the brain and finding its way to the hypothalamus which is the area of our brain that's responsible for sleep. From there it begins to completely change our neuro chemistry and hormone output. Symptoms include headache, insomnia, and fatigue at strange hours. In advanced stages motor skills become impaired, your appetite go's, and you can begin to twitch and have convulsions. Eventually you fall into a coma and truly experience the permanent lights out. So if you're visiting Sub Saharan Africa you might want to pack bug spray.

Well fellow Steemers, that's it for now. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I know for some it's a bit of an odd topic but I find this sort of stuff great interesting and great fun to blog about... Perhaps I'm odd. I'd like to thank you all for reading and stopping by my blog and I look forward to checking out your awesome content. As always many blessings and Steem on.