Subtitle 2: You really don't want a cat, do you?
Guided by Parasites: Toxoplasma Modified Humans
http://tobiastenney.com/2010/06/toxoplasma/
(Be sure to play the videos on this site.)
Here is an interesting little organism, Toxoplasma (Toxoplasma gondii) [Toxo], that reproduces in the digestive tract of cats. Toxo leaves the cat via cat feces, which then get eaten by rodents. At this point it needs to get back in the cat. Toxo modifies rodent behavior by generating cysts in the brains of rats, near the fear center, so that they are no longer afraid of cats, but are actually attracted to them (and thus more likely to be eaten by cats).
"Somehow, this damn parasite knows how to make cat urine smell sexually arousing to rodents, and they go and check it out. Totally amazing." – Dr. Sapolsky
So where am I going with this? What does sexually arousing cat piss have to do with me? Here's the kicker: It appears to affect humans, too! A human infected with Toxo may also exhibit impulsive behavior, their fear centers having been modified by the Toxo.
Getting closer to home (for me, an motorcycle rider), according to the article: "In a very specific example, Dr. Sapolsky goes on to state the specifically motorcyclists have a high probability of being infected with Toxo." According to Dr. Sapolsky, "...if you ever get organs from a motorcycle accident death, check the organs for Toxo. I don’t know why, but you find a lot of Toxo."
So there you have it, the "motorcycle bug"! Some people really do have it!
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