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ZOMBIE BRAINS: MICROBIAL MIND CONTROL

Rayna M Harris
January 09, 2018

ZOMBIE BRAINS: MICROBIAL MIND CONTROL

Are you in control your behavior or are microbes manipulating your mind? Microorganisms living in our bodies (aka the microbiome) have critical effects on human health and behavior, for better or for worse. Mind-manipulation by microbes is most gruesome in ecosystems where zombie fungi control the moribund behaviors of the unsuspecting insect hosts.

Rayna M Harris

January 09, 2018
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  1. ZOMBIE BRAINS:
    MICROBIAL MIND CONTROL
    RAYNA HARRIS
    TWITTER @raynamharris
    ARE YOU IN CONTROL OF YOUR
    BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR?

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  2. JOSEPH
    PALMER
    NARRATING A DAVID
    ATTENBOROUGH FILM IN
    THE VOICE OF TOM WAITS
    RAYNA
    HARRIS
    SCIENTIST AND
    TEACHER
    @raynamharris

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  3. image by Andy Taylor
    MICROBIOME: ALL MICROSCOPIC
    ORGANISMS IN THE BODY
    image by Jenna Luecke
    image by Jon Berkeley

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  4. HOST-
    PARASITES
    photo by Alex Wild

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  5. HOST-
    PARASITES
    photo by Alex Wild
    image from
    UCLA Microbiome Center
    GUT
    MICROBIOME

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  6. HOST-
    PARASITES
    photo by Alex Wild
    image from
    UCLA Microbiome Center
    GUT
    MICROBIOME
    art by Laura Zombie
    SOCIAL
    BEHAVIOR

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  7. Local photographer Alex Wild
    WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

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  8. DEADLY FUNGUS-INSECT
    INTERACTIONS
    ATTACK OF THE KILLER FUNGI
    PLANET EARTH ATTENBOROUGH BBC WILDLIFE

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  9. DEADLY FUNGUS-INSECT
    INTERACTIONS
    ATTACK OF THE KILLER FUNGI
    PLANET EARTH ATTENBOROUGH BBC WILDLIFE

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  10. THE MICROBE CONTROLED
    DEATH SEQUENCE
    ATTACK OF THE KILLER FUNGI
    PLANET EARTH ATTENBOROUGH BBC WILDLIFE

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  11. THE MICROBE CONTROLED
    DEATH SEQUENCE
    ATTACK OF THE KILLER FUNGI
    PLANET EARTH ATTENBOROUGH BBC WILDLIFE

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  12. Elya et al 2017 BioRxiv
    THE MICROBE-
    CONTROLED DEATH POSE

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  13. Elya et al 2017 BioRxiv
    PARASITIC FUNGI
    TAKING OVER
    FLY BODY AND BRAIN
    REAL ZOMBIE FLY RESEARCH!

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  14. Elya et al 2017 BioRxiv
    PARASITIC FUNGI
    TAKING OVER
    FLY BODY AND BRAIN
    REAL ZOMBIE FLY RESEARCH!
    Photo: Julie Simpson Lab

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  15. Elya et al 2017 BioRxiv
    PARASITIC FUNGI
    TAKING OVER
    FLY BODY AND BRAIN
    REAL ZOMBIE FLY RESEARCH!
    Photo: Julie Simpson Lab
    photo from @mad_scientits

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  16. GUT
    MICROBIOMES
    CHANGE FOR
    BETTER OR
    WORSE
    image from Mayo Clinic

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  17. MOM’S
    MILK
    FEEDS
    BABY’S
    MICROBES
    Ed Yong July 22, 2016
    The NewYorker
    image by Rachel Levit Ruiz

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  18. Clarke et al 2014
    Molecular Endocrinology
    Koren et al 2012
    Cell
    MICROBIOME TRANSPLANTS
    CAN ALTER BODY WEIGHT

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  19. Nature News 2015
    GUT-BRAIN
    INFLUENCE

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  20. Nature News 2015
    GUT-BRAIN
    INFLUENCE
    appetite
    cognition
    digestion
    locomotion
    memory
    mood
    social behavior
    sexual desire
    sleep

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  21. MOUTH TO MOUTH
    HORIZONTAL
    GENE TRANSFER
    art by Laura Zombie

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  22. IS AN
    INFECTIOUS
    DISEASE
    MANIPULATING
    THIS
    BEHAVIOR?
    art by ben zhu

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  23. ATTACK OF THE KILLER FUNGI
    PLANET EARTH ATTENBOROUGH BBC WILDLIFE
    WHY KILL THE ZOMBIE HOST
    RATHER THAN THE PARASITE?

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  24. ATTACK OF THE KILLER FUNGI
    PLANET EARTH ATTENBOROUGH BBC WILDLIFE
    WHY KILL THE ZOMBIE HOST
    RATHER THAN THE PARASITE?

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  25. ATTACK OF THE KILLER FUNGI
    PLANET EARTH ATTENBOROUGH BBC WILDLIFE
    INFECTED HOSTS FEAR
    EVICTION AND DEATH

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  26. WOMEN BREAK THE SILENCE
    AROUND WORKPLACE CULTURE
    photo by Billy &
    Hells for TIME
    art by For All Womankind

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  27. HOST-
    PARASITES
    photo by Alex Wild
    image from
    UCLA Microbiome Center
    GUT
    MICROBIOME
    art by Laura Zombie
    SOCIAL
    BEHAVIOR

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  28. AWESOME RESOURCES

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  29. THANKS FOR LISTENING
    RAYNA HARRIS
    TWITTER @raynamharris

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