title: An overview of parasite-induced behavioral alterations - and some lessons from bats.
abstract: An animal with a parasite is not likely to behave like a similar animal without that parasite. This is a simple enough concept, one that is now widely recognized as true, but if we move beyond that statement, the light that it casts on behavior fades quickly: the world of parasites, hosts and behavior is shadowy, and boundaries are ill-defined. For instance, at first glance, the growing list of altered behaviors tells us very little about how those alterations happen, much less how they evolved. Some cases of parasite-induced behavioral change are truly manipulative, with the parasite standing to benefit from the changed behavior. In other cases, the altered behavior has an almost curative, if not prophylactic, effect; in those cases, the host benefits. This paper will provide an overview of the conflicting (and coinciding) demands on parasite and host, using examples from a wide range of taxa and posing questions for the future. In particular, what does the larger world of animal behavior tell us about how to go about seeking insights - or at least, what not to do? By asking questions about the sensory-perceptual world of hosts, we can identify those associations that hold the greatest promise for neuroethological studies of parasite-induced behavioral alterations, and those studies can, in turn, help guide our understanding of how parasite-induced alterations evolved, and how they are maintained.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. janice.moore@colostate.edu
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000469:parasitology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D010271:Parasites / Q000502:physiology*