Zombies seem to be all the rage recently in the entertainment industry. Obviously, Hollywood generally avoids keeping things “scientific” for entertainment purposes, but could it be possible to be controlled by another biological organism? Well, a Czech Scientist named Jaroslav Flegr sure thinks so. Flegr came to this idea when he noticed that he would do dangerous acts, like crossing the street, without thinking twice about it. He made the connection when he read about how a flatworm invades the nervous system of an ant. Usually, when the temperature drops, ants burrow underground, but the infected ant actually climbs to the top of a blade of grass, and locks onto it as hard as possible. It does this in an effort to be swallowed up by a sheep eating grass, so that it may complete its life cycle. Flegr believes something similar is happening in humans when they are infected by T. gondii, a microbe that is found in cat feces.

According to Flegr, infected humans gain subtle behavioral changes. Often, those who are infected have slower reaction times and are less attentive and are two and a half times more likely to be in a car accident. In addition, the microbe can be found in many schizophrenic patients. Rats who are infected by the T. gondii microbe are more active and lose their fear of cats. The reason for this is because T. gondii wants to get back inside the cat so it can reproduce, so it rewires the rat’s nervous system. A more intrepid rat makes the microbe more likely that it will be eaten, and make it to its target destination, the inside of a cat. Flegr believes that the T. gondii virus can do the same to humans, and rewire our brain circuitry similar to the rat’s case. Unfortunately, while a rat is smaller and lives only about 3 years, humans live much longer. Thus, the side effects of the microbe are much more dramatic in humans, and possibly lead to schizophrenia due to years of brain rewiring. Although this microbe may seem scary, most people only have slight behavioral changes that go unnoticed for an entire lifetime. 

Author: Allan Parker