According to foreign media reports, it is well-known that cats are the natural enemies of rats and that mice are born with fear of cats. In recent days, scientists have discovered a parasite called the "Ixoplasma gondii," which not only makes rats behave strangely but also completely eliminates the fear of cats.
It is reported that cat urine usually has a natural deterrent to rodents, which makes mice naturally maintain a vigilance and distance from the cat. But scientists have discovered that male mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii activate cats' areas of activity when they come in contact with the cat's urine, that is, controlling the fear of the brain area, and that cats have a strong sexual attraction for themselves. Force, this completely subverted the image of a rat when he saw a cat, but turned it into a "brave" super mouse.
Scientists explained that this is because Toxoplasma gondii needs to continue to survive in the cat's digestive system in order to have sexual reproduction, and mice infected with gonochi often lose their fear of cats, and then relax their vigilance. Coupled with the attraction of the cat to its own particularity, these mice will easily become a cat's good meal. Once the toxoplasma is eaten by the cat, it means that the toxoplasma has successfully reached a safe living environment. Smooth sexual reproduction.
Robert Sapolsky, professor of neurosystem sciences and research co-author at Stanford University, said that the effect of toxoplasma on mice is very strange, because they usually only know that rats infected with Toxoplasma gondii will make rats' brains Areas of fear control are ambiguous, but it is not known that toxoplasma can affect sexual attraction in mice. The specific reason is still a mystery.
Another researcher and person from Patrick Stanford University (Patrick House) also said that this study has fully proved that Toxoplasma gondii will change the mouse's vigilance and emotional responses to the theory. At the same time, it also shows that fear and attraction may be dominated by the same area of ​​the brain, and at least it can be shown that the emotional reaction of fear is not unrelated to the generation of the attraction feeling. But so far, scientists have not yet studied how the toxoplasma controls the brain's work.
Scientists have also found that Toxoplasma gondii invades the brain and “sows†around the amygdala to control some of the brain’s functions, including changes in fear and some emotional behaviors. However, the present results of this experiment extend the results of previous studies and demonstrate that toxoplasma not only controls the brain's amygdala in infected male mice, but also affects some of the rats' amygdala subregions in the discovery of cats. The odor response, especially when faced with cat odors, also increases neuronal activity, and the amygdala subregion usually becomes active as it meets female mice.
According to tests, more than one-third of people infected with Toxoplasma gondii are due to regular consumption of barbecued foods or exposure to stray cats. Toxoplasma inhabiting the human body is of great risk to the fetus and pregnant women. In any case, many studies have found that schizophrenia, brain amygdala dysfunction, and emotional response disorders have some connection with toxoplasma infection. Scientists will also carefully study how toxoplasms control the brain in the future. (Shang Li)
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