This Is Your Brain on Parasites

How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society

By: Kathleen McAuliffe

Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella

Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins

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.

Entertaining but questionable studies

What would have made This Is Your Brain on Parasites better?

Less reliance on unrepeated or unrepeatable studies and more focus on those with more substantial evidence for, OR at least disclaimers when using some studies as being more fringe.

Would you ever listen to anything by Kathleen McAuliffe again?

Maybe

Which character – as performed by Nicol Zanzarella – was your favorite?

NA

What character would you cut from This Is Your Brain on Parasites?

NA

Any additional comments?

This is an entertaining and interesting book, but readers need to recognize it is a mash up of scientifically accepted and experimentally verified phenomenon and several observations or theories that might not prove to be true but they are all presented in a way that gives them equal weight. Reader beware

Excellent book

This book was so good that I listened almost non-stop! I highly recommend it. It made me think differently.

great read

most interesting book I have read all year, I think she gives religious beliefs to much credit. I would of liked her to talk a little about the negatives like the Catholic ban on condoms rather than just picking only good thing like washing yourself before prayer.

Fascinating

Totally enthralling! I couldn't put it down. Interesting social & psychological implications.

Definitely worth reading .

Potentials for Better Understanding of Behavior

This is such an interesting read. I almost went into Parasitology when I graduated with a Biology degree. I knew some of these strange things but not others. A must read for anyone wanting insight into behavior.

Lots of food for thought....

My husband and I listened to this book on a long trip , Cross-country trip and we both agree it is amazing. The ideas and science behind the theories are fascinating and the narrator does a great job of keeping the topic interesting.

Well done in every aspect.

Incredible book!

Kathleen has opened my eyes to a different way of looking at the world. The premise of our minds being so affected by parasites that our personality and social perspective can be different depending on where we live and the parasites we’re exposed to is fascinating. I read the book in 2016 but didn’t retain enough. I’m so glad I listened to it and may go back to the book again. We should all read this.

who are you?

it seem you are a city all to yourself. the million of things living on and in you, how much of it is you and do they get a vote do they have and how much is really you? this book is trying to look at that.

Parasites Rule!

The author is not shy about hypothesizing broad impacts on human behavior and even society from microbes and other parasites. In most cases, McAuliffe acknowledges her biases and ignorance. There are two areas she does not that some readers may be put off by: law and religion. For the former, she flat out does not understand the difference between guilt and sentencing or even the purpose of the criminal justice system. For the latter, she basically assumes that something "caused" religion to arise. She does not acknowledge the possiblity that a Supreme Being or beings help people navigate a difficult world, or at least that some rational people might believe as much. These are only two negative observations that might affect some readers. It is overall a fascinating book.

Fascinating!

I typically stick to fiction books, but decided to give this one a shot out of (morbid?) curiosity. What a great choice! It is a fascinating account of how parasites and microbes affect our own lives and our interactions with others. That may sound like a dull subject, but it is as enjoyable and interesting a listen as anything I’ve experienced so far.