IS YOUR CAT MAKING YOU CRAZY?
The Osgood File. Sponsored in part by LiftMaster Garage Door Openers. Use your smartphone to open or close your garage door any time from anywhere. This is Charles Osgood.
Turns out there's a parasite that lives in cats, which has been transmitted to millions of humans...
SOT - Kathleen McAuliffe, writer at The Atlantic
"The parasite infection is incredibly common - about a third of people in the world have the latent infection. In the United States, it's about 10 to 22 percent..." (:10)
That's Kathleen McAuliffe, who wrote about this in an article in The Atlantic magazine titled "How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy."
Studies show the parasite changes the neurowiring in our brains in such a way that it affects human behavior.
For one thing, bizarre as it may seem...
SOT - Kathleen McAuliffe
"They found that people who are infected with the parasite are about two-and-a-half times as likely to be in car crashes. If they're right, the parasite might be involved in as many as several hundred-thousand car crashes each year around the world." (:13)
The story after this...
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Much of the work on the cat-borne parasite Toxoplasma - which can alter human behavior - was done by Czech biologist Jaroslav Fleger of Charles University in Prague.
Respected scientists elsewhere believe he's right, says Kathleen McAuliffe.
SOT - Kathleen McAuliffe
"There are a number of very prominent researchers in Britain and the United States who take this research very seriously." (:08)
The parasite is easily detected.
SOT - Kathleen McAuliffe
"Yes, there are very blood tests today that can determine whether or not you have the latent infection." (:06)
"Toxo" apparently affects men and women differently.
SOT - Kathleen McAuliffe
"Infected men become more introverted, sort of more antisocial. They're more likely to flaunt rules. They're also more likely to be more suspicious. They care less what other people think about them - so they tend to be, for example, sloppy dressers." (:13)
And women?
SOT - Kathleen McAuliffe
"Women, on the other hand, when they're infected - they tend to be warmer and more outgoing and nurturing. And, they dress better - they take much more care in their appearance." (:09)
More later on our next Osgood File about the parasite. This is Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network. |
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