This Is Your Brain on Parasites: How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society

I was inspired to buy this book due to passing many roundworms during a water fast. I did a 21-day water fast following the ebook Water Fasting by Jennifer Thompson. In her book, she describes how she had many parasitic intestinal worms released, even one that was more than 2 feet long! Well, any doubts I had about that story were dispelled after I saw my own spaghetti-like worms coming out in my enemas. I bought this book because I had to learn more!This book was very compelling to me to help me understand that these types of intestinal worms could have definitely attributed to my former depression and anxiety, which, after my water fast, are now GONE, flushed down the toilet with the worms perhaps?! I was so fascinated by the author's stories and studies regarding parasites and how they can affect behavior and the brain. Could this be one of the reasons why anxiety and depression seem to be running rampant in the modern world today?Now I know #1) I am not nor was I ever crazy #2) I will definitely be doing fasting and parasite cleansing on an annual basis for my overall health/immune system and #3) probiotics are worth their weight in gold. To the author - thank you for addressing such an important topic in terms of people's health and well being!

McAuliffe’s article on toxoplasmosis in the 2012 Atlantic “How Your Cat is Making You Crazy” is probably the reason for the word parasites in the title, but the subtitle, “How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society,” is a more accurate portrayal of the topic of this excellent book. For example, the human gut microbiota (think probiotics) are well covered in this book, but they are certainly not parasites.McAuliffe does a great job of introducing the reader to the major advances in this field. We meet a number of the scientists involved and learn about their findings. What is well accepting, what is still being studied, and what is controversial are clearly presented as such. The book is well footnoted, so you can look the research up yourself online.Here’s an overview of the chapters:1 – The beginning of the study of parasites and microbs effecting the behavior of animals and humans.2 – Malaria and other insect carried disease. Focusing on manipulations that get parasites where they need to go to survive.3 – More manipulations, including caffeine in flower nectar to manipulate bees.4 – Toxoplasma and humans. A look at what can happen when parasites get into the wrong host.5 – Rabies; toxocara (roundworms), and other parasites that effect “our essential sense of self – our moods, appetites, behaviors, and reasoning abilities.”6 – Gut microbiota. Manipulations that are beneficial, mostly.7 – How gut microbiota effect our weight.8 – Behavioral immunity – things animals and humans instinctively do to heal our wounds and protect us from parasites.9 – How the emotion of disgust helps protect us from parasites and disease.10 – The relationship between disgust and prejudice.11 – The relationship between disgust, religion, and politics.12 – “Maybe we’ve underestimated parasites’ political clout. Maybe they permeate our entire worldview. Maybe geopolitics should be taught from a parasite’s point of view.” Really. A look at how the prevalence of parasites and disease effects culture.Some new and interesting research is presented here in a enjoyable (yes, really) manner. I would note that I have read several books and a number of research papers on gut microbiota, but McAuliffe still came up with very interesting research that I was unaware of. This book offers a lot to think about with far reaching impacts on our personal health and the state of the world.

This book set me on the path to looking at the world in a different way: an unabashedly parasite-centric way. We are more microbe than humans! Some of our unconscious may be controlled by pathogens! Gut microbiome influences our brains, behaviors, and even personality!! Do you know how? Well... you can read it yourself.Save for anthelmintic, how parasites affect you?Are you happy to have high standards of hygiene?What do you think about the stomach churning emotion, disgust: visceral vs moral disgust?How politicians harness disgust sensitivity?How about Hillary Clinton's extended bathroom break during a Democratic primary debate?Do you wonder about whether you have the larger anterior insula relative to total brain size?Do you want to get the answers? Read it yourself.Remember the following tips:(1) eat vegetables that have been scrubbed throughly;(2) wear gloves while gardening;(3) cook meat well or, if you prefer it rare, freeze it first to kill the microbe's cysts ㅡT.gondii produces thick-walled cysts in the animal's muscleEctoparasites and microscopic parasites may exist anywhere around you... and jeopardize you, your partner, and your offsprings.... So go get the book and read it yourself! Don't worry. I bet you will totally lose track of the time while reading. You will find yourself indulged in this a wee bit provocative topics. Well-written and very informative. I highly recommend this one to you.

A fascinating book. Initially quite gorey, it gradually settles down to draw together behaviors illustrated into a broader discussion on the effects of parasites of different kinds on various species, including humans. Pursuing concepts that would otherwise be quite far removed from most people's expectations and imaginings, but which seem entirely plausible when considered in context, the author considers cultural conflicts in the real world right up to those still being contested in the present day.This is an engrossing book, a well written page-turner — in fact impossible to put down! It introduces a whole new aspect to so many issues that can so easily get stuck in sterile arguments.

Excellent book. I've been interested in this topic for many years, and this book brings a lot of different research together in one place. Great introduction. But develops some really interesting themes. I recommended it to a friend who is doing a phD in cross species virus transmission, and she'd heard of it, and said it was well regarded in her field, even though it's aimed at people who are not experts.Reminds me a bit of "The Wisdom of Whores" by Liz Pissani, which is also excellent.

This is a good book on the subject of the interaction of parasites and their hosts, written by a non-specialist in the field. As such the book is well written gaining much of its information from interviews of experts in the field. I liked the early part but could not go along with the latter chapters of how much they had affected our thoughts and emotions.

I thought this was going to be a book about how microbes affect us but it is more about science studies and animals

Well written at a level where a non-expert can follow the reasoning. It will change your view of yourself and of others but it does so by laying out the evidence for how these things affect us.