Engineers explained - Toxoplasma gondii (from cats) may cause schizophrenia, mood disorders, Engineers and more Feb 2012 article.Long. Good. Thought provoking. Much related 'solid science' on web. http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-yo= u-crazy/308873/?single_page=3Dtrue I've long said, somewhat in jest, that there is an 'Engineer gene'. Maybe there is. Complementary to such, it looks entirely possible (but by no means certain) that: - In men Toxoplasma (aka 'Toxoplasma Gondii aka T. gondii aka Toxo) ) adds classic engineer traits, & "enhances" classic rumpled, increasingly testosterated, confident, suspicious, somewhat fearless, wade into the fray attributes in men in increasing extent as they grow older. (I resemble that, alas) - And that many of the results on women are about the opposite. - And that women T. gondii (or maybe most women) that have a tendency to be attracted to men like that (now that would be weird :-) - an actual working 'attractant' that makes grumpy, bolshie old men attractive :-) )(I haven't noted this effect). - AND it also seems possible that Schizophrenia and the various dopamine related mood disorders may be critically affected. It has long been known that Toxoplasma is spread by cats to rats and invades their brain and makes cysts with the overall "aim" of making them them prone to so change their behaviour as to make them easy prey for cats - virtually seeking them out. There are now strong and somewhat hard to ignore indications that T Gondii does something similar to people. This hypochondriac's dream has been valiantly resisted by mainstream medicine for decades but an increasing number of reputable and ultra mainstream researchers and authorities are finding the evidence persuasive. As one researcher said: "We've found all kinds of excuses for why we do the things we do," observes Moore. "'My genes made me do it.' 'My parents are to blame.' I'm afraid we may have reached the point where parasites may have to be added to the laundry list of excuses." About 30% of all people on earth are infected!. For most T. gondii is in its dormant form It's possible that it causes increased testosterone levels in men, even in its dormant form. And more? True? Who knows - but it offers some grand excuses, and some material of use in further understanding people (quote apart from the Toxoplasma aspects). Russell --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .