Predator cat odors activate sexual arousal pathways in brains of toxoplasma gondii infected rats

Cat odors induce rapid, innate and stereotyped defensive behaviors in rats at first exposure, a presumed response to the evolutionary pressures of predation. Bizarrely, rats infected with the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii approach the cat odors they typically avoid. Since the protozoan Toxoplasma...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: House, Patrick K., Vyas, Ajai, Sapolsky, Robert M.
Other Authors: School of Biological Sciences
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/93918
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/7479