Parasite Found in Cats May Affect Human Gaming Ability

There is a type of bacteria called Toxoplasma gondii that is specifically hosted by cats, but the parasite can infect nearly any warm-blooded animal. Studies show that possibly more than 30% of the world human population is infected with T. gondii, though infection rate varies greatly by country. When a human contracts T. gondii there are almost no noticeable symptoms present, though researchers have found a correlation between those infected with the bacteria and those with significantly lower reaction times.

[bOObies]

Interesting..But if you think you have it, how do you get rid of it?

[brimby]

OP: I'm not completely clear on this. It mentions people with "chronic infection", so I took this to mean that at least part of people keep it forever.

[DarkBlood]

Thats it no animals for me in the forseeable future lol

[amiga-man]

Well next time I get shot in multiplayer, my cat had better watch out

[Angeljuice]

If you eat meat there's a good chance you do have a strain of it already. It is present in 40% of supermarket meat and if that meat is undercooked (or rare) then the chances are you have it.

It isn't really harmful it just lays eggs on the membrane of the brain which slows your reaction times by between 1-3%.

Autopsies on car crash victims show that somebody with toxaplasm is twice as likely to be involved in a fatal car accident.

I researched the subject a few years ago for a film that was being made.

[iceman06]

It's a parasite, so it has the ability to "hide" in places. However, there are drug regimens that will take care of the infection. (anti-parasytics specific to Toxoplasma strains) The REAL problem is that it is mostly asymptomatic initially (or masked by common flu/cold symptoms).

[Exari]

WHAT?! cat infection affects reaction speed?! and i have not one, but TWO cats..

that actually made me worry a bit. But when i think about it, I have gotten many platinums including a game that highly depends on reaction speed which is Bloodborne.. so idk

[ChronoJoe]

I wouldn't say Bloodborne depends on reaction time at all. It's much more a matter of learning attack patterns.

Not saying you have it though, lol.

For what it's worth, I probably have it as I have lived with cats my entire life up until the age of 20, and also eat both white and red meat.

With that said, my KDR on MW2 was 3.6, Starhawk, 6.5, Destiny, 2.0, Uncharted 3, 2.5, Killzone, 2.0, and I have set world record lap times Motorstorm, Twisted Metal and Dirt 2. I can get a top 100 time on pretty much any racing game, without a sweat. Meanwhile in my academic career, I have published award winning research as an undergraduate, and achieved the UK equivalent of a 4.0 GPA.

I'm also dyslexic... which does not help either, but the bottom line is that these are just little things and none of the little things beat you unless you let them. A 1-3% reaction time reduction is not going to matter one bit on a game like Bloodborne if your execution is solid and your reactions are reasonable.

To put it further in perspective, a single frame on a video game running at 60 frames per second is 16ms, games like Destiny and Bloodborne run at 30, so 32ms. If T Ghondii reduces your reaction times by 1-3% then that reduces the average reaction time to visual stimulus from 250, to 242.5-247.5. That's by 2.5 to 7.5 miliseconds... that's not even a single frame in most video games. Even if it was by a larger amount, say 6% that just about amounts to one frame.

It's generally not going to make the biggest difference.

[Immorals]

4 cats and a dog here!

[SniperControl]

Your screwed bud.......

[iceman06]

Well....just don't eat kitty litter or get scratched!!! Then again...enjoy your brain bugs! LOL

[S2Killinit]

Damn it cat! Look what you did? You made me loose.

[Roccetarius]

Hmm, i had cats quite some time ago, but i had to get rid of them due to not being allowed to have them where i live.

[bunt-custardly]

Parasites...is this Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain?

[Bass_fisherman]

The ocelot unit xD

[Eldyraen]

Cats always screw up gamers anyways as they wait to jump on you till you are just about to need to pay attention, or lay in front of the monitor/tv, or chew on any cord they can find as they are part rat (probably why they chase them--don't want to compete for those chewy cable protectors).

I still won't ever get rid of mine though.

[SniperControl]

My mates old cat would actually curl up on his fat PS3 for the warmth while we were gaming, occasionally the PS3 would beep at us and shutdown due to over heating.

[Perjoss]

This explains a lot, I have 2 cats and I suck at games! :D

[Aenea]

If you want a quick test to see if you have it, take a sniff of cat urine! If it stinks like a SOB then you don't have it :)

[Summons75]

>.> I knew cats were evil, nobody believed me especially Ms. Smith the crazy cat lady across the street...

[Bass_fisherman]

ok thats enough internet for today

[1nsomniac]

Haha growing up my mum took in strays back in the 80's. We built a big conservatory especially for them. At one point we had almost 50. We looked after pretty much all of them for life until they passed. The last 1 died at the beginning of this year she was 24 years old don't know how old that is in cat years but I believe the oldest in the UK at least is 26. So she wasn't far from getting in the record books.

Anyway I've got my own family now including 4 cats of my own.... if there is such a thing then I must have it.

There's been a lot of scientist lately linking cats to schizophrenia. Which explains a lot lol

[kbozz71]

So it's my cat's fault....Not my age. Yeah, I like blaming the cat.

[Mr Marvel]

More proof that cats are evil, selfish, soulless creatures who don't give a shit about their owners.

Next time you see a dog trying to destroy a cat, just remember, they're trying to do you a favour.

Dogs for life!

[FreddyFazbear]

Just a correction for the article and author. The title is correct Parasite found in cats. But when I read the first paragraph it said "Bacteria". T. Gondii is not a bacteria its a parasite. Parasite is different from a bacteria. I don't want to elaborate much but ask any medical doctor or biologist about it.

[MasterD919]

Then why do I have cat-like reflexes?