Toxoplasmosis May Increase Person’s Likelihood of Pursuing Entrepreneurial Activities

Toxoplasmosis is widespread in humans, although its prevalence varies widely from place to place.

In Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States, it is estimated that 9-40% of the population are infected, whereas in Central and South America and continental Europe, estimates of infection range from 50 to 80%.

While rarely associated with acute pathology, T. gondii has been correlated with impulsive behaviors and health outcomes such as increased risk of car accidents, road rage, mental illness, neuroticism, drug abuse and suicide.

The explanation behind these altered behaviors is as disturbing as it is fascinating: because the parasite reproduces sexually only within wild and domestic cats, any changes in host behavior that make them more likely to get eaten by a feline are hypothesized to benefit the parasite.

Read Entire Sci News Article

About the Author: DrStefanieKJohnson

Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson is an Associate Professor of Management at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder. She holds a Ph.D. from Rice University and is particularly interested in the effects of unconscious biases in the evaluation of women and minorities, with the goal of finding ways to mitigate those biases. Dr. Johnson brings bias to light with an engaging and humorous approach to advanced scientific research, which has earned her numerous accolades and invitations to present her work at meetings around the world, including the White House for a 2016 summit on diversity in corporate America on National Equal Pay Day, and the 2016 Harvard Negotiation and Leadership Conference. She has published over 70 journal articles and book chapters in outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Journal of Applied Psychology and The Academy of Management Journal. She has extensive consulting experience and has created and delivered leadership-development training with an emphasis on evidence-based practice. In recognition of her unique research, Dr. Johnson has been awarded nearly three million dollars in external funding to study leadership and create leadership development programs aimed at increasing safety. Media outlets featuring her work include: The Economist, Newsweek, Time, and CNN. Stefanie lives in the Boulder Bubble in Colorado with her Biology Professor husband, two young kiddos, and two old kitties.