PARASITE-ALTERED BEHAVIOR - IS THE EFFECT OF TOXOPLASMA-GONDII ON RATTUS-NORVEGICUS SPECIFIC

The effect of Toxoplasma gondii on rat behaviour was assessed in a col ony of 36 free-ranging wild/laboratory hybrid rats allowed to compete freely for food and mates in a (100 m(2)) outdoor naturalistic enclosu re. T. gondii infection had no effect on social status or mating succe ss, both the product of costly and competitive activities. However, th e propensity to explore novel stimuli in their environment was higher in infected than uninfected individuals. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that T. gondii only affects the behavioural trails which selectively benefit the parasite, rather than causing a general alteration of rat behaviour.