CHICAGO — Find yourself losing your temper? It might be your cat, say researchers from the University of Chicago.
And not because kitty did the do-do in the wrong place, or ripped up the new couch.
The researchers found that bursts of anger in humans, such as road rage, might be from a brain infection linked to the toxoplasmosis parasite, which can be found in cat feces.
The bursts of anger, called Intermittent Explosive Disorder, have only been found to be associated with the cat parasite, not necessarily caused by it, says Scientific American, which reported on the U. of C. findings.
So don't get rid of the cat just yet.
It might be, one of the researchers, Royce Lee, told Scientific American, that "aggressive individuals [might] tend to have more cats..."
The parasite is also found in uncooked meat and contaminated water.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
