Parasites can control their hosts. Can humans also be controlled by parasites?

Parasites are life forms that live in or on other organisms.

From their way of survival, we can feel that these creatures are not very strong. They even have no ability to survive independently without the host. So you may not think that these small creatures can not only absorb the nutrients needed for survival from the host, but can even manipulate the host to a certain extent to achieve their own goals. Parasites in a narrow sense usually refer to those parasites visible to the naked eye, while parasites in a broad sense include not only "bugs", but also bacteria and even viruses. These parasites have the ability to manipulate the host to a certain extent.

The larval fluke is a macroscopic parasite whose final host is birds.

But it is extremely difficult for this small parasite to enter the body of a bird. What should it do? It must take a ride. This ride is a snail. Snails move slowly, so it is not difficult for them to parasitize in the body of a snail. But the question is how can they ensure that the snail they are parasitizing will be eaten by birds? Snails are not considered regular food for birds because snails have a good defensive shell and are nocturnal creatures, which do not coincide with the activity time of most birds.

The probability of snails being eaten by birds is not very high, but the situation is different after they are parasitized by larvae.

The larvae trematode invades the snail's eyestalk, causing it to lose its ability to retract, rendering the snail's defensive shell useless. In addition, the eyestalk invaded by the larvae will appear fluorescent green, making it easy for birds to spot it. Even more incredible is that this parasite can also change the habits of snails, making them active during the day, so it is impossible for them not to be eaten by birds. Similar to this is the more familiar Toxoplasma gondii, whose ultimate host is the cat.

The final host of Toxoplasma gondii is cats, but it is difficult for it to infect cats directly, so it will infect mice first.

Toxoplasma gondii that enters the body of a mouse will interfere with the mouse's nervous system, causing the mouse's innate fear of cats to disappear. The mouse infected with Toxoplasma gondii will walk in front of the cat with a swagger, and in this way, the mouse becomes a delicious meal for the cat, and Toxoplasma gondii also enters the cat's body. These examples are very interesting, but these animals controlled by parasites do not have high intelligence. If it is a human, can these parasites also control it? Really. If a pet at home is accidentally infected with Toxoplasma gondii, and then it is transmitted to humans, then this parasite will begin to exert influence on humans.

If a pregnant woman is infected with Toxoplasma gondii, there is a high probability that the fetus may be malformed, but if it is an ordinary person, there will generally be no health problems. The impact of Toxoplasma gondii on people is mainly on the mental level.

Research has found that people infected with Toxoplasma gondii will gradually develop a series of psychological problems, such as self-doubt and anxiety, and their reaction ability will become slow, and their attention will decrease to a certain extent, which makes people infected with Toxoplasma gondii much more likely to have accidents than ordinary people. In nature, once a person dies, they will be eaten by mice, so Toxoplasma gondii will return to their final host, that is, cats, through the cycle.

Perhaps you have heard this saying: "People have two brains, one in the head and one in the stomach."

This sentence means that the intestinal microorganisms in the human body will affect a person's emotions, and emotions will have a series of effects on a person's psychology and body. This is actually a terrifying thing to think about. We think our will is completely free, but in fact it is unconsciously controlled by various things. For example, some people can control their appetite to maintain their figure, while others find it difficult to do so. This may not be because the former has a stronger will than the latter, but because the latter always receives "hunger" signals from the body.

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