Live Search

Stream Beyond Limits

This Is Your Brain on Parasites

This Is Your Brain on Parasites

Year

2016

Genre

Science & Engineering

Now Playing: Full / 0

Full

Now Playing

This Is Your Brain on Parasites

Science & EngineeringScience & Engineering

Year

2016

Duration

500m

Publisher's Summary A riveting investigation of the myriad ways that parasites control how other creatures - including humans - think, feel, and act. These tiny organisms can live only inside another animal, and, as McAuliffe reveals, they have many evolutionary motives for manipulating their host's behavior. Far more often than appreciated, these puppeteers orchestrate the interplay between predator and prey. With astonishing precision, parasites can coax rats to approach cats, spiders to transform the patterns of their webs, and fish to draw the attention of birds that then swoop down to feast on them. We humans are hardly immune to the profound influence of parasites. Organisms we pick up from our own pets are strongly suspected of changing our personality traits and contributing to recklessness, impulsivity - even suicide. Microbes in our gut affect our emotions and the very wiring of our brains. Germs that cause colds and flu may alter our behavior even before symptoms become apparent. Parasites influence our species on the cultural level, too. As McAuliffe documents, a subconscious fear of contagion impacts virtually every aspect of our lives, from our sexual attractions and social circles to our morals and political views. Drawing on a huge body of research, she argues that our dread of contamination is an evolved defense against parasites - and a double-edged sword. The horror and revulsion we feel when we come in contact with people who appear diseased or dirty helped pave the way for civilization but may also be the basis for major divisions in societies that persist to this day. In the tradition of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel and Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish, This Is Your Brain on Parasites is both a journey into cutting-edge science and a revelatory examination of what it means to be human. ©2016 Kathleen McAuliffe (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

You Might Also Like

Science & Engineering★ 6.7

Overheard at National Geographic

Science & Engineering★ 7.9

Eye On The Sky

Science & Engineering★ 6.6

New Books in Psychology

Science & Engineering★ 7.9

IS PHARMACOLOGY DIFFICULT Podcast

Science & Engineering★ 8.0

Believing the Bizarre: Paranormal Conspiracies & Myths

Arts & Entertainment★ 7.4

Seinfeld XXX

Arts & Entertainment★ 7.3

The Vampire Diaries Reviews and After Show - AfterBuzz TV

Teen & Young Adult★ 8.8

Shadow and Bone

Science & Engineering★ 7.3

24/7

Science & Engineering★ 6.2

Life Science Success

Science & Engineering★ 7.8

Science Diction

Science & Engineering★ 7.1

Intelligent Design The Future

Science & Engineering★ 6.9

Public Health Insight

Science & Engineering★ 9.2

Emotional

Science & Engineering★ 7.0

The Psychology Podcast with Scott Barry Kaufman

Science & Engineering★ 9.8

Bitch

Science & Engineering★ 9.6

The Universe

Science & Engineering★ 7.1

Mind Body Health & Politics

Science & Engineering★ 7.9

The Inside Social Work Podcast

Science & Engineering★ 6.2

Foodie Pharmacology Podcast

Science & Engineering★ 6.5

Into The Wild

Science & Engineering★ 6.5

Chameleon Academy Podcast with Bill Strand

Science & Engineering★ 7.9

Secrets in Nature

Science & Engineering★ 7.3

BBC Inside Science