Parasites and Personality
Becky Ripley and Emily Knight wonder who really controls your thoughts and actions? You? Or the things that live inside you?
If you think you’re in control, think again.
What invisible forces might be guiding your behaviour, your decisions, your most intimate emotions? Becky Ripley and Emily Knight take a trip into the bizarre nightmare world of the undergrowth, and watch ‘zombie ants’ stumble forward, blindly following the orders of the deadly fungi controlling their brains. Parasites often get the upper hand of their hosts, manipulating their behaviour in sometimes horrifying ways. But is that true of humans too? Could we be unknowingly subservient to creatures that live inside us? Do they wish us well, or might they be plotting our downfall?
Featuring entomologist Dr David Hughes from Penn State University, and neuroscientist John Cryan from University College Cork.
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- Thu 20 Jun 2019 13:45Â鶹Éç Radio 4
- Tue 10 Dec 2019 09:30Â鶹Éç Radio 4
- Fri 24 Sep 2021 19:45Â鶹Éç Radio 4
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Naturebang
Making sense of what it means to be human by looking to the natural world.