How brain parasites change their host's behavior - Jaap de Roode
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The biggest challenge in a parasite’s life is to move from one host to another. Intriguingly, many parasites have evolved the ability to manipulate the behavior of their hosts to improve their own survival -- sometimes even by direct brain control. Jaap de Roode details a few parasites that can really mess with the mind.
Toxoplasma is an example of a trophically transmitted parasite: a parasite that infects a definitive host (a cat in the case of Toxoplasma) when that definitive host eats an intermediate host (a rodent in the case of Toxoplasma). Another trophically transmitted parasite is the trematode flatworm Leucochloridium paradoxum. This parasite infects the tentacles of snails, making them look like pulsating caterpillars. Provide a hypothesis for this manipulation of the snail host.
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Jaap de Roode
- Animation Artist Andrew Foerster
- Script Editor Eleanor Nelsen
- Narrator Addison Anderson
