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Cat odors induce rapid, innate and stereotyped defensive behaviors in rats at first exposure, a presumed response to the evolutionary pressures of predation. Bizarrely, rats infected with the brain parasite  Toxoplasma gondii  approach the cat odors they typically avoid. Since the protozoan  Toxoplasma  requires the cat to sexually reproduce, this change in host behavior is thought to be a remarkable example of a parasite manipulating a mammalian host for its own benefit.  Toxoplasma  does not influence host response to non-feline predator odor nor does it alter behavior on olfactory, social, fear or anxiety tests, arguing for specific manipulation in the processing of cat odor. We report that  Toxoplasma  infection alters neural activity in limbic brain areas necessary for innate defensive behavior in response to cat odor. Moreover,  Toxoplasma  increases activity in nearby limbic regions of sexual attraction when the rat is exposed to cat urine, compelling evidence that  Toxoplasma  overwhelms the innate fear response by causing, in its stead, a type of sexual attraction to the normally aversive cat odor.

Predator Cat Odors Activate Sexual Arousal Pathways in Brains of Toxoplasma gondii Infected Rats