Kevin Lafferty, a parasite ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has suggested that a certain cat parasite may influence culture on a massive scale. The parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, has been transmitted from cats to roughly half the people in the world, and has been shown to affect human behavior. Cat owners infected with the parasite become almost subservient to their cats.

Research has shown that women who are infected with the parasite tend to be warm, outgoing and attentive to others, while infected men tend to be less intelligent and probably a bit boring. But both men and women who are infected are more prone to feeling guilty and insecure. Other researchers have linked the parasite to schizophrenia. In an adult, the symptoms are like a mild form of flu, but it can be much more serious in an infant or fetus. Oxford University researchers believe high levels of the parasite leads to hyperactivity and lower IQs in children.

When present in rodents, Toxoplasma makes the carrier less fearful to the point where it may actually seek out patches of cat urine. This behavioral change makes the carrier more likely to be eaten, thus allowing Toxoplasma to pass from the rodent to a cat host where the parasite undergoes sexual reproduction. The cat then passes the parasite’s eggs in its feces which may later infect a rummaging rodent. “This is something that many parasites do,” Lafferty says. “Many manipulate hosts’ behavior… We have a parasite in our brain that is trying to get transmitted to a cat. This changes an individual’s personality.”

In countries like Brazil the parasite is very prevalent, infecting 2 out of every 3 people. Lafferty is now questioning whether such a mind-controlling parasite could account for even a small part of the cultural differences seen around the world. His theory is that if enough personalities within a society are changed by Toxoplasma, then that society as a whole will undergo a cultural change which reflects the mindset of the people. Lafferty says that cat owners whose cats do not eat wild animals are less likely to be infected by the parasite. Thank you Science for proving what the rest of us already suspected – that crazy cat people are indeed crazy.

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