Can viruses control our behavior? You may have already asked yourself this question. It is true that the question itself seems to be taken from science fiction or a horror novel. However, science has discovered that viruses can actually change our behavior.
They don't do it directly. Or at least they don't do it by rejecting our will or making decisions for us. In fact, they do it in a more subtle and quieter way. Because if there is one thing these infectious microscopic organisms want above all else, it is to survive. Reproduce and enter complex ecosystems.
Thus, one of their strategies for achieving this goal is to change the behavior of the host they entered. Thus, they tend to spread further. Therefore, many of the symptoms we experience with the flu, diarrhea, or even colds are actually aimed at making it easier for the disease to spread to other healthy people.
For example, sneezing is not just a natural mechanism for removing these intruders from our body. It is also a vehicle used by a virus to transfer from one organism to another. And it works pretty well for them. However, there are even more interesting and disturbing facts about viruses.
How can viruses control our behavior?
The word "virus" itself scares us. Especially in the current context of the COVID-19 epidemic. As the saying goes, our worst enemies are often the ones we can't see. The ones that are visible only under a microscope and can weaken our health.
But what do these organisms look like? In fact, they are nothing more than fragments of genetic information wrapped in protein capsules.
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Their only purpose is to penetrate the cells of another organism in order to survive and reproduce. They can infect humans, as well as animals, plants, fungi and even bacteria.
So when you ask yourself how viruses can control our behavior, the first thing to recognize about them is that they are smarter than you first think.
Viruses don't have brains. However, virologists often refer to them as very "smart" organisms. They know how to enter a cell, neutralize it and transform it so that it reproduces viral particles. In addition, they also change the behavior of the host. Now let's see how viruses can change our behavior.
Symptoms of the disease and how viruses spread
Let's turn to recent research to determine if viruses can effectively control our behavior. This is a study by Dr. Claudia Hagbon and Dr. Maria Istrate from Linkoping University in Sweden, published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
This research focused on rotaviruses. These viruses cause a type of gastroenteritis that kills nearly 600,000 children worldwide every year. The most obvious symptoms are vomiting and diarrhea. It has long been believed that vomiting is the body's defense against disease.
It seemed that vomiting was a reaction caused by both the brain and the intestines to reject spoiled food, toxic foods, or any other harmful substances from the body.
In the case of vomiting, it is serotonin that activates the nervous system, so that the brain generates such a mechanism and, thus, can discard harmful elements of the body.
However, a Swedish team of doctors discovered that it is rotavirus that controls the mechanisms of vomiting and diarrhea! He even does it for a very specific purpose. To spread viral particles outside the inhabited organism and thus infect others.
The Science of Behavioral Virology
Can viruses control our behavior? As we just saw, the answer is yes. They do this, and their strategy is to make the symptoms of the disease an external infection mechanism in order to infiltrate new hosts.
With their mechanism of survival and reproduction, they take control of certain behaviors. These include sneezing, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.
However, the science of behavioral virology goes beyond that. Research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden goes even further.
Some viruses can completely change our behavior. They can cause irritability, insomnia, hyperactivity, and thus radically change human behavior.
An example is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. One form of this pathology is known as mad cow disease. Patients suffer from progressive dementia, difficulty walking, anxiety, and mood swings.
Another example is the case of Bourne disease. This disease mainly affects horses. It was first described in 1766. However, it also affects some people. The disease produces clinical signs very similar to those of schizophrenia. Finally, rabies also perfectly illustrates how a virus can change animal behavior.
Fortunately, science protects us from the effects of many of these viruses. For others, that is, those for which we have no defense mechanism or vaccine, the best protection strategy we have is to wash our hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water and practice good hygiene.