A parasite spread by cats could be the key to being a successful entrepreneur, scientists have concluded.
The discovery suggests there may be a bizarre advantage to being infected by the organism, Toxoplasma gondii.
According to the findings, the single-celled parasite worms its way into the brain and causes personality changes associated with risk-taking.
The white cat causes the excess of entrepreneurialism rather than being a symptom of it.
There’s a curious disconnect between all the research telling us that Toxoplasmosis is bad, versus the medical profession who continue to insist that it’s not a problem. The official NHS line is “usually harmless”.
When lying becomes the default activity then believing no one becomes the default response.
Andrew M: the only unequivocal fact based medical evidence is that Toxoplasmosis during pregnancy damages the foetus, sometimes catastrophically probably because of a lower immune response. It’s just not ethical to knowingly infect humans, study any change in behaviour then dissect their brains. Mice are a very poor model.
Don’t get your science from the Telegraph.
*Sigh* How many millions live with a cat? How many individuals are supposedly affected? It simply doesn’t add up. Can no one do basic maths, any more?
Toxoplasmosis: been there done that.
It is best caught from small kittens although a veterinary pathologist assured me that eating rare steak can do the trick.
Ljh,
This piece of research says toxo “causes personality changes associated with risk-taking“; other studies have associated toxo with higher risk of car accidents, of suicide, self-destructive behaviours, and possibly dementia.
We banned lead from pipes, paints, and petrol because it was associated with a 2.6pt IQ drop. Toxo seems to be similarly bad, but nobody seems to care. Isn’t that odd?
The judgment of when to take or not take risks is arguably the highest function of a human brain. Any impairment of brain function (due to ingress of worms! ) is highly unlikely to improve the judgment of risks.