'Toxic masculinity' may be caused by an actual, infectious, brain-altering parasite

[cbabe]

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/26/2140309/--Toxic-masculinity-may-be-caused-by-an-actual-infectious-brain-altering-parasite?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email

'Toxic masculinity' may be caused by an actual, infectious, brain-altering parasite

Image of Mark Sumner, author
by Mark Sumnerfor Daily Kos
Daily Kos Staff
Monday, Dec. 26, 2022 at 8:00:09am PST

When you look around America these days, it’s hard to feel like there hasn’t been some kind of Invasion of the Body Snatchers event. So many people seem not just anxious, but genuinely militant in their desire to bend back the arc of history. So many seem to be willing to work against their own best interests only because it brings other people pain.

People have looked for explanations, from prolonged exposure to Fox News to frustration over the slow decline of rural America, to a whole swath of isms: racism, sexism, etc. Watching people frothing at a Donald Trump rally, or beating police on the steps of the Capitol, or carrying an assault rifle to the grocery store, or screaming at their local school board, it all seems so … irrational. And, has long been noted, no amount of facts or reasoning seems to work in getting someone back once they have boarded the Q-train or decided that vaccines are the work of interstellar lizard tpeople.

But what if the problem behind these seemingly irrational actions isn’t just caused by listening to AM radio and feeling resentful about that girl who turn you down in high school? What if it’s a disease caused by a genuine brain-eating parasite?

In November, Communications Biology included a paper from researchers looking at the behavior of grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park. They identified a series of “risk-taking” behaviors in these wolves, including leaving their pack, fighting to achieve dominance in the pack, and approaching people or cars. These behaviors all came with the risk of increased death, either at the teeth of other wolves or from the vehicles and guns of humans in and around the park.

What they found was simply amazing.

…more…

(As long as we’re speculating, consider mad cow disease which was hushed up by the beef industry.)

[reymega life]

1. UM THIS IS called men and testosterone

[emulatorloo]

3. You should read about the wolves in the article. For human men, testosterone does a lot of things

for for men, including health and mental function, and problem solving abilities.

[TheRealNorth]

2. Toxoplasmosis is often associated with cats....

And is a danger to fetal development in pregnant women in particular.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/toxoplasmosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20356249

[rubbersole]

4. Mad cow disease on the same day as mtg gets a divorce?

Coincidence?

[samnsara]

5. Remember Click and Clack on Car Talk? They referred to this as..

..testosterone poisoning...

[2naSalit]

7. Yes they did!

I miss those guys.

[sl8]

6. From Nature:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03836-9

24 November 2022

Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders
Study is one of the few to show the behavioural effects of Toxoplasma gondii in wild animals.

Emma Marris

Wolves infected with a common parasite are more likely than uninfected animals to lead a pack, according to an analysis of more than 200 North American wolves1. Infected animals are also more likely to leave their home packs and strike out on their own.

The parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, makes its hosts bold — a mechanism that increases its survival. To reproduce sexually, T. gondii must reach the body of a cat, usually when its host is eaten by one. That becomes much more likely if the parasite alters the host’s behaviour, making it foolhardy. Research results are mixed, but in rodents, infection generally correlates with decreased fear of cats and increased exploratory behaviour. Physical and behavioural changes have also been found in people: testosterone and dopamine production is increased and more risks are taken.

Warm-blooded mammals can catch the parasite by eating an infected animal or ingesting forms of T. gondii shed in the faeces of infected cats. After a period of acute infection, semi-dormant cysts form in muscle and brain tissue, and persist for the rest of the host’s life. Up to one-third of humans might be chronically infected.

Unique data set
T. gondii is known to infect wildlife, but few studies have examined its behavioural effects. In one work, infected hyenas in Kenya became more likely to be eaten by lions2. Connor Meyer and Kira Cassidy, wildlife ecologists at the University of Montana in Missoula, thought of a rare opportunity to link infection with behaviour in wild wolves: data on grey wolves (Canis lupus) collected intensively in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, over nearly 27 years. Some wolves in Yellowstone live near, and sometimes steal prey from, cougars (Puma concolor), which are known to carry the parasite. Wolves could become infected by eating the cats — or their faeces.

[...]

[2naSalit]

8. Let me guess...

It's something found in beer!

[DBoon]

9. and the only antidote is to ...

... drink cosmopolitans

[2naSalit]

14. LOL!

[Chainfire]

10. Blame it on nurture, not nature. It is all learned behavior.

Intolerance and ignorance are now accepted as positive attributes to half the population.

Since the mid 90s, the Republicans have made extraordinary gains in the systematic destruction of all things good. It is who they are and what they do.

[hvn_nbr_2]

16. OTOH, parasite infection might explain sane ones who suddenly go Q-bot. nt

[AZSkiffyGeek]

11. I'm not sure I completely buy this, but...

The two people I know of who succumbed to toxic masculinity and turned from open-minded liberals into alt-right incel racists both had a shitload of cats and took care of the ferals in their neighborhood.

[mopinko]

12. ya know, the 1 trumpkin i know

is married to a cat lady.

[NNadir]

15. This guy is really, really, really, really bad at science. n/t.

[mainer]

17. There's a theory that black bear attacks due to brain Toxo

Black bears in Maine are benign. Black bears in NH have been aggressively attacking humans. Same species, different behavior -- toxoplasmosis infections may explain it.