A new study shows that parasites can influence human behavior



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An international team of researchers has found a possible link between an infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii and behavior that includes risky commercial decisions

in the work published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes an experiment which was done to test the behavioral changes caused by Toxoplasma gondii infections, writes discopera.ro, citing Phys.

This parasite is unicellular and as a group would have infected more than a quarter of the world's population. Fortunately, many have few or no symptoms. Significant symptoms usually consist of headaches and the usual feeling of flu. People become infected by ingesting raw or undercooked meat or cleaning the sand for cats.

In the new study, researchers have shown that parasitic rodents tend to undergo behavioral changes such as cat attack. They wondered if people infected with this virus had behavioral changes.

To find the answer, the scientists took saliva samples from 1,500 student volunteers. They also collected 200 samples of people attending a seminar on entrepreneurship. After testing the samples, the researchers found that 22% of those tested were exposed to the parasite. They also found that among those infected, there were 1.4 times more chances that they were students in commerce. They also found that among those who attended the entrepreneurship seminar, infected people were 1.8 times more likely to start their own business than those who did not.

The researchers note that starting a business is considered a very good risky behavior – many fail and suffer from an economic point of view because of it. As evidence that these infections cause risk behavior in humans,

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