ArticlePloS one2016
Is Toxoplasma Gondii Infection Related to Brain and Behavior Impairments in Humans? Evidence from a Population-Representative Birth Cohort.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 124 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic Review on the Relationship between Toxoplasmosis and Mental Disorders.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2024Pooled it
- Association of T. gondii infection with suicide: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2020Pooled it
- Is there any association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and depression? A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- Pregnant Women Chronically Infected byPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors ofBiomedicines · 2024Article
- Risk Factors Associated withMicroorganisms · 2024Article
- Observational
- Impact ofJournal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Cardiovascular health, infection burden and their interactive association with brain volumetric and white matter integrity outcomes in the UK Biobank.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2023Article
- Chronic infection by atypicalBrain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2023Article
- The Role of Veterinarians in Managing Community Cats: A Contextualized, Comprehensive Approach for Biodiversity, Public Health, and Animal Welfare.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Serologic evaluation of cytomegalovirus (CMV), Toxoplasma gondii and Brucella in schizophrenia patients.Caspian journal of internal medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- Estimation of Cyclophilin and Phospholipase Enzyme in Women Infected with Toxoplasmosis.Medical archives (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) · 2022Article
- Effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection on cognition, symptoms, and response to digital cognitive training in schizophrenia.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2022Article
- The Relationship of Latent Toxoplasmosis and Cigarette Smoking: Seroprevalence, Risk Factor, and Case-Control Study in Fars Province, Southern Iran.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Is latent Toxoplasma gondii infection associated with the occurrence of schizophrenia? A case-control study.PloS one · 2022Article
- Toxoplasmosis: Targeting neurotransmitter systems in psychiatric disorders.Metabolic brain disease · 2022Review
- Canine and Feline Parasitology: Analogies, Differences, and Relevance for Human Health.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2021Review
- Examining the Relationship betweenPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundToxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a protozoan parasite present in around a third of the human population. Infected individuals are commonly asymptomatic, though recent reports have suggested that infection might influence aspects of the host's behavior. In particular, Toxoplasma infection has been linked to schizophrenia, suicide attempt, differences in aspects of personality and poorer neurocognitive performance. However, these studies are often conducted in clinical samples or convenience samples. METHODS/
resultsIn a population-representative birth-cohort of individuals tested for presence of antibodies to T. gondii (N = 837) we investigated the association between infection and four facets of human behavior: neuropsychiatric disorder (schizophrenia and major depression), poor impulse control (suicidal behavior and criminality), personality, and neurocognitive performance. Suicide attempt was marginally more frequent among individuals with T. gondii seropositivity (p = .06). Seropositive individuals also performed worse on one out of 14 measures of neuropsychological function.
conclusionOn the whole, there was little evidence that T. gondii was related to increased risk of psychiatric disorder, poor impulse control, personality aberrations or neurocognitive impairment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.