'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite
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Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite
#2>"Normally in animals, behavior is controlled by the brain sending signals to the muscles, but our results suggest that the parasite is controlling host behavior peripherally," Hughes said. "Almost like a puppeteer pulls the strings to make a marionette move, the fungus controls the ant's muscles to manipulate the host's legs and mandibles."
Probably the most "And I Must Scream" moment in mother nature. Imagine a human gets infected by a parasite that controls their body but leaves their brain intact to observe what their body is doing (and probably drugged to hell as the article implies).
Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite
#3>"Normally in animals, behavior is controlled by the brain sending signals to the muscles, but our results suggest that the parasite is controlling host behavior peripherally," Hughes said. "Almost like a puppeteer pulls the strings to make a marionette move, the fungus controls the ant's muscles to manipulate the host's legs and mandibles." Probably the most "And I Must Scream" moment in mother nature. Imagine a hum…
The Last Of Us explored this concept using a fictional version of this same fungus that infected humans instead
Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite
#4Almost like the concept in 'Animorphs'. Even as a child I found that creepy. This just amplifies that feeling.
Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite
#5Look at this picture of the final stage, after the 'stalk' sprouts from the ants head. Pretty haunting.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Ophiocor...
Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite
#6>"Normally in animals, behavior is controlled by the brain sending signals to the muscles, but our results suggest that the parasite is controlling host behavior peripherally," Hughes said. "Almost like a puppeteer pulls the strings to make a marionette move, the fungus controls the ant's muscles to manipulate the host's legs and mandibles." Probably the most "And I Must Scream" moment in mother nature. Imagine a hum…
Maybe not that drastic but check this out:
> "Crazy cat-lady syndrome" is a term coined by news organizations to describe scientific findings that link the parasite Toxoplasma gondii to several mental disorders and behavioral problems.
Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite
#7The flood
Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite
#8>"Normally in animals, behavior is controlled by the brain sending signals to the muscles, but our results suggest that the parasite is controlling host behavior peripherally," Hughes said. "Almost like a puppeteer pulls the strings to make a marionette move, the fungus controls the ant's muscles to manipulate the host's legs and mandibles." Probably the most "And I Must Scream" moment in mother nature. Imagine a hum…
Wouldn't that require the fungus to have a nervous system of its own?
Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite
#9>"Normally in animals, behavior is controlled by the brain sending signals to the muscles, but our results suggest that the parasite is controlling host behavior peripherally," Hughes said. "Almost like a puppeteer pulls the strings to make a marionette move, the fungus controls the ant's muscles to manipulate the host's legs and mandibles." Probably the most "And I Must Scream" moment in mother nature. Imagine a hum…
Wouldn't that require the fungus to have a nervous system of its own?
The article reads like it either does or it somehow manipulates the nervous system of the host without actually infecting the brain.
Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite
#10>"Normally in animals, behavior is controlled by the brain sending signals to the muscles, but our results suggest that the parasite is controlling host behavior peripherally," Hughes said. "Almost like a puppeteer pulls the strings to make a marionette move, the fungus controls the ant's muscles to manipulate the host's legs and mandibles." Probably the most "And I Must Scream" moment in mother nature. Imagine a hum…
Wouldn't that require the fungus to have a nervous system of its own?
Yeah it's really weird. Animal time scales (needed to control muscles) seem much faster (order of ms) than fungus time scales (order of seconds for a very fast one)
It seems to me it requires the whole fungus to assembly itself in some kind of "fungus brain". Really fascinating stuff