Infection with T. gondii has been shown to alter the behavior of mice and rats in ways thought to increase the rodents' chances of being preyed upon by cats.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis
It can infect humans. It may be a risk factor for schizophrenia, OCD, bipolar disorder and other mental health issues. The evidence seems inconclusive at this time.
The path how the parasite infects rodents, then cats, then humans is very complex and not at all consistent, most articles on the Internet dumb it down way too much.
This Youtuber has an awesome explanation on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdlHNhrMw-A
Also, his channel is translated from Hungarian, it's an awesome channel btw.
The headline says more reckless.
I wouldn’t consider it a stretch to say some people are definitely more reckless. Whether there’s a causal link, I couldn’t say.
While uninfected cubs stayed an average of 300 feet away from lions, cubs that had Toxoplasma antibodies in their blood had ventured within an average of 142 feet from the predators, a dangerous proximity. These differences disappeared after the cubs turned one, perhaps because the survivors learned not to get too close to the felines.
People make their own 'luck'.
Do keep in mind that evolution mostly works on the level of genes, and perhaps individuals. It doesn't really work on the level of the population.
Oh, but you do see people running towards cats! They keep them indoors and feed them.
What is really interesting – how human toxoplasma prevalence varies per country.
I had toxoplasmosis and I drive a bit on the aggressive side.
Trematodas are really interesting too https://www.newscientist.com/article/2129880-parasite-living...
Robert Sapolsky's work is an abundant resource on the topic[1].
[0] https://www.pnas.org/content/104/15/6442
[1] https://scholar.google.de/scholar?hl=en&q=sapolsky+toxoplasm...