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Title: | Predator cat odors activate sexual arousal pathways in brains of toxoplasma gondii infected rats | Authors: | House, Patrick K. Vyas, Ajai Sapolsky, Robert M. |
Keywords: | DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Microbiology | Issue Date: | 2011 | Source: | House, P. K., Vyas, A., & Sapolsky, R. M. (2011). Predator cat odors activate sexual arousal pathways in brains of toxoplasma gondii infected rats. PLoS ONE, 6(8), e23277. | Series/Report no.: | PLoS one | Abstract: | Cat odors induce rapid, innate and stereotyped defensive behaviors in rats at first exposure, a presumed response to the evolutionary pressures of predation. Bizarrely, rats infected with the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii approach the cat odors they typically avoid. Since the protozoan Toxoplasma requires the cat to sexually reproduce, this change in host behavior is thought to be a remarkable example of a parasite manipulating a mammalian host for its own benefit. Toxoplasma does not influence host response to non-feline predator odor nor does it alter behavior on olfactory, social, fear or anxiety tests, arguing for specific manipulation in the processing of cat odor. We report that Toxoplasma infection alters neural activity in limbic brain areas necessary for innate defensive behavior in response to cat odor. Moreover, Toxoplasma increases activity in nearby limbic regions of sexual attraction when the rat is exposed to cat urine, compelling evidence that Toxoplasma overwhelms the innate fear response by causing, in its stead, a type of sexual attraction to the normally aversive cat odor. | URI: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/93918 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/7479 |
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0023277 | Schools: | School of Biological Sciences | Rights: | © 2011 House et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | Fulltext Permission: | open | Fulltext Availability: | With Fulltext |
Appears in Collections: | SBS Journal Articles |
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