eBook - ePub
This Is Your Brain On Parasites
How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society
- 304 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
This Is Your Brain On Parasites
How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society
About this book
"Engrossing . . . [An] expedition through the hidden and sometimes horrifying microbial domain." —
The Wall Street Journal
Parasites can live only inside another animal and, as Kathleen McAuliffe reveals, these tiny organisms have many evolutionary motives for manipulating the behavior of their hosts. With astonishing precision, parasites can coax rats to approach cats, spiders to transform the patterns of their webs, and fish to draw the attention of birds that then swoop down to feast on them. We humans are hardly immune to their influence. Organisms we pick up from our own pets are strongly suspected of changing our personality traits and contributing to recklessness and impulsivity—even suicide. Germs that cause colds and the flu may alter our behavior even before symptoms become apparent.
Parasites influence our species on the cultural level, too. Drawing on a huge body of research, McAuliffe argues that our dread of contamination is an evolved defense against parasites. The horror and revulsion we are programmed to feel when we come in contact with people who appear diseased or dirty helped pave the way for civilization, but may also be the basis for major divisions in societies that persist to this day. This Is Your Brain on Parasites is both a journey into cutting-edge science and a revelatory examination of what it means to be human.
"If you've ever doubted the power of microbes to shape society and offer us a grander view of life, read on and find yourself duly impressed." —Bookforum
"Fascinating—and full of the kind of factoids you can't wait to share." — Scientific American
"Humorous, inspiring, and macabre, this is infectious reading in the tradition of giants like Robert S. Desowitz and Jared Diamond." —Michael A. Huffman, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University
Parasites can live only inside another animal and, as Kathleen McAuliffe reveals, these tiny organisms have many evolutionary motives for manipulating the behavior of their hosts. With astonishing precision, parasites can coax rats to approach cats, spiders to transform the patterns of their webs, and fish to draw the attention of birds that then swoop down to feast on them. We humans are hardly immune to their influence. Organisms we pick up from our own pets are strongly suspected of changing our personality traits and contributing to recklessness and impulsivity—even suicide. Germs that cause colds and the flu may alter our behavior even before symptoms become apparent.
Parasites influence our species on the cultural level, too. Drawing on a huge body of research, McAuliffe argues that our dread of contamination is an evolved defense against parasites. The horror and revulsion we are programmed to feel when we come in contact with people who appear diseased or dirty helped pave the way for civilization, but may also be the basis for major divisions in societies that persist to this day. This Is Your Brain on Parasites is both a journey into cutting-edge science and a revelatory examination of what it means to be human.
"If you've ever doubted the power of microbes to shape society and offer us a grander view of life, read on and find yourself duly impressed." —Bookforum
"Fascinating—and full of the kind of factoids you can't wait to share." — Scientific American
"Humorous, inspiring, and macabre, this is infectious reading in the tradition of giants like Robert S. Desowitz and Jared Diamond." —Michael A. Huffman, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University
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Yes, you can access This Is Your Brain On Parasites by Kathleen McAuliffe in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Medical Microbiology & Parasitology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Index
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Aarøe, Lene, 173, 174, 175
acetylcholine, 101
Ackerman, Joshua, 168, 173
acne, 153
Aframomum, 142
agriculture
antibiotic use, 115
citrus greening, 40–41
evolution and, 199, 200
start of, 195–96
Allocyclosa bifurca, 43–46
American cockroaches (jewel wasp), 47–49
Amerindians, 137
Ampulex compressa, 47–49
amygdala, 191
ancestors
gender and, 160
healing instinct, 129, 145
hygiene, 192, 194, 195–96
“normal,” caveman version, 167–68
Anderson, Roy, 19
anger, 107, 168, 169
ant trematode, 10
anterior insula, 190–91
anthelmintic medicine, 97
antibiotic use, 115–16, 117
antibodies, 74, 79, 80, 93, 214
antidepressants, 105
antipathy, 170–71
ants, 51–53, 131–32, 146
appetite control, of mosquitoes by plasmodia, 37–38
aromatic compounds. See chemical signaling
arousal. See attraction; sexual behavior
asexual reproduction, 138–39
Asian citrus psyllid, 40
assortative mating, 215
attraction
beauty, 134–35
fatal feline, 69, 71, 72–73
illness or weakness, 134
in malaria, 38–39
MHC, 135–39
sexual motivation and, 86
See also sexual behavior
authoritarianism, 212–13
autism spectrum disorder, 102
autocracy vs. democracy, 211, 212–13
B
barnacles, in crabs, 49–51
bathroom hygiene, 130–31
bats, 21
bears, medicinal compounds, 146
beauty, as health marker, 134–35
bees, 53–55, 130–31
Behavioral and Brain Sciences (...
Table of contents
- Title Page
- Contents
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Introduction
- Before Parasites Were Cool
- Hitching a Ride
- Zombified
- Hypnotized
- Dangerous Liaisons
- Gut Feelings
- My Microbes Made Me Fat
- Healing Instinct
- Photos
- The Forgotten Emotion
- Parasites and Prejudice
- Parasites and Piety
- The Geography of Thought
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Index
- About the Author
- Connect with HMH