This explains that rat I saw with the "No Fear" t-shirt

How crazy is this? The parasite can live in just about any mammal (including humans), but only reproduces in cats. I wonder if it can have this powerful of an effect on rats, what effects it may have on other infected mammals.

Brain parasite disrupts fear

A brain parasite that amazingly alleviates rats' innate fear of cat urine does not affect other kinds of fear, a new Stanford University study suggests. Normally, the smell of cat piss scares the hell out of rats. Yet when the rodents are infected with the parasitic germ Toxoplasma gondi, they don't seem to mind the urine.

via Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

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