Doubleplusgood!

creature in my mind

“Pull” by Maria Rubinke

motherboardtv:

How Cat Parasite Toxoplasma Hacks Mice Brains to Eliminate Fear

The terror of Toxoplasma gondii, the brain-controlling parasite that lives in cats, has by now been hyped enough to make everyone give their cats a sidelong glance. The parasite works something like this: It reproduces and grows in cats, but can be spread to any number of organisms. In rodents, toxoplasma makes mice fearless towards cats; in essence, the parasite seems to make rodents make themselves easier for a cat to eat, which is then of course infected by the parasite.

It’s a brilliant example of the ruthless efficiency that makes many parasites work, and–considering people are regularly infected too–might explain why cats are so popular on the internet. Yes, I’m saying that /r/awww is populated by toxoplasma zombies who can’t stop obsessing over their cats.

It all sounds like a rather fantastic tale, even if the parasite’s effects have been well-observed. But with a quarter of the global population infected, you have to ask: Why don’t our immune systems fight back against toxoplasma? Thanks to some research published today in PLoS Pathogens we’ve now got a better idea of how toxoplasma actually works.

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- by Derek Mead

I love my cats because their zombie parasites told me too.

medicalschool:

Vessels of the Human Brain

New tumblr I just started following. My medical fetish is getting sated!

(Source: radnet.ucla.edu)

human brain

scinerds:

That last one looks gross.

I’m afraid but very curious to know what my brain looks like.  I’m a vegan bipolar recreational drug user (only opiates now) who binge drinks every weekend…

Mind

Inside