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Toxoplasma gondii & Human Phenotype

Compendium of Known Effects and Ongoing Research

masculinity

Higher perceived dominance in Toxoplasma infected men – a new evidence for role of increased level of testosterone in toxoplasmosis-associated changes in human behavior

September 26, 2007 Leave a Comment
Hodková, H., Kolbeková, P., Skallová, A., Lindová, J. , Flegr, J.
Neuroendocrinology Letters 2007; 28: 110-114
Click for abstract
Toxoplasma is parasite of cats that uses any warm-blooded animals as intermediate hosts. It is known to induce shifts in behavior, physiology and even morphology of its intermediate hosts, including humans. The lower second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D ratio) in infected man and women, and higher height in infected man sug - gest that sex steroid hormones like testosterone could play a role in these shifts. Here, we searched for another indirect indication for a higher postnatal testosterone level, i.e. increased perceived dominance and masculinity in infected men. We showed portrait pictures of 89 male students of which 18 were Toxoplasma - infected to 109 female students. When we statistically corrected for age, men with latent toxoplasmosis were perceived as more dominant (p=0.009) and masculine (p=0.052). These results support the idea that the higher level of testosterone could be responsible for at least some of the toxoplasmosis-associated shifts in human and animal behavior.

Tagged: Human, masculinity, Parasite

BehaviorMorphologyPersonality

Can the common brain parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, influence human culture?

October 30, 2006
Lafferty, K.D.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 2006; 273: 2749-2755.
Click for abstract
The latent prevalence of a long-lived and common brain parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, explains a statistically significant portion of the variance in aggregate neuroticisin among populations, as well as in the 'neurotic' cultural dimensions of sex roles and uncertainty avoidance. Spurious or non-causal correlations between aggregate personality and aspects of climate and culture that influence T gondii transmission could also drive these patterns. A link between culture and T gondii hypothetically results from a behavioural manipulation that the parasite uses to increase its transmission to the next host in the life cycle: a cat. While latent toxoplasmosis is usually benign, the parasite's subtle effect on individual personality appears to alter the aggregate personality at the population level. Drivers of the geographical variation in the prevalence of this parasite include the effects of climate on the persistence of infectious stages in soil, the cultural practices of food preparation and cats as pets. Some variation in culture, therefore, may ultimately be related to how climate affects the distribution of T gondii, though the results only explain a fraction of the variation in two of the four cultural dimensions, suggesting that if T gondii does influence human culture, it is only one among many factors.

Tagged: antibodies, decreased level, Dopamine, infection, masculinity, nations, neuroticism, novelty seeking, personality, personality changes, population, pregnant women, prevalence, risk factors, uncertainty avoidance

BehaviorPersonality

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