Induction of changes in human behaviour by the parasitic protozoan Toxoplasma gondii
Language English Country England, Great Britain Media print
Document type Comparative Study, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
- MeSH
- Immunity, Cellular MeSH
- Time Factors MeSH
- Behavior * MeSH
- Discriminant Analysis MeSH
- Intradermal Tests MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Multivariate Analysis MeSH
- Personality * MeSH
- Personality Tests MeSH
- Hypersensitivity, Delayed MeSH
- Regression Analysis MeSH
- Toxoplasma immunology MeSH
- Toxoplasmosis immunology psychology MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Comparative Study MeSH
Toxoplasma gondii, the coccidian parasite, is known to induce changes in the behaviour of its intermediate hosts. The high prevalence of this parasite in the human population (20-80%) offers the opportunity of studying the influence of the parasite on human behaviour by screening of a normal population. A total of 224 men and 170 women were tested for toxoplasmosis and their personality profiles were measured by Cattell's questionnaire. Highly significant differences between Toxoplasma-infected and uninfected subjects were observed (P < 0.01). For men the factors G (low superego strength), L (protension), O (guilt proneness), and Q2 (group dependency) were positively influenced in infected subjects. For women the prevailing factors were A (affectothymia, P < 0.01), L (alaxia), O (untroubled adequacy) and Q2 (self-sufficiency). To reveal whether toxoplasmosis induces personality factor-shifts or whether certain combinations of personality factors influence the probability of acquiring Toxoplasma infection, we examined the personality profiles of 164 male patients diagnosed with acute toxoplasmosis during the past 13 years. The existence of a positive correlation between the duration of latent toxoplasmosis and the intensity of superego strength decrease (P < 0.02) suggested that the decrease of superego strength (the willingness to accept group moral standards) was induced by T. gondii infection.
References provided by Crossref.org
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