A cat parasite and how is related to dopamine, fear and introversion/extroversion

Submitted by Karsa on
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Very long article but very interesting. This biologist believes a cat parasite can be trasmitted to humans and it can modifies brain patterns and connections that will in turn change our behaviours. Males become more introverts while females more extroverts.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/1969/12/how-your-cat-is-making...

It's Estimated that 50% of

It's Estimated that 50% of the world's population has been infected at some point, but most do not have an active infection. Wikipedia has some good info. If one is having symptoms, it would be good to get tested.

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I've known this for at least

I've known this for at least 35 years, since i was pregnant and got tested for it.  Like lyme disease, not everyone gets the severe autoimmune type response. It maybe that in some folks that the blood-brains barrier is compromised, causing the CNS symptoms.

It was my Naturopath's regular process

The Dr. (whose name was, I kid you not, Dr. Bogus) tested all his patients who had cats.   Because I was negative for exposure, I wasn't allowed to do anything involving the litter pan, because becoming exposed during pregnancy can cause miscarriages or severe birth defects.  He believed you couldn't get it twice, so if i was already converted, there was no danger in the cat-box duties.

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