AHS16 - Ancestral Health Symposium 2016

Many parasites promote their replication by manipulating their hosts’ physiology and behavior, e.g. increasing host aggressiveness (to spread through bites), disrupting anti-predator defenses (to spread through ingestion), or inducing 'parasitic castration' (to spread through sustained mating effort). We’ll argue that some common STIs may manipulate human sexual behavior in their own interests, e.g. by promoting sociosexuality, bisexuality, or homosexuality, broadening mate choice criteria, increasing courtship skills, disrupting long-term relationships, or inducing female sterility. Herpes viruses and neurosyphilis seem especially well-positioned to influence neural functioning. Neurosyphilis often promotes increased sexual desire, sexual and verbal disinhibition, and an increased creative spark reminiscent of Parkinson’s L-DOPA therapy. More attention to possible STI manipulation could lead to better diagnostic criteria for STIs, interventions for reducing transmission, new explanations for non-heritable individual differences in sexual strategies, a better understanding of sexual disgust, and new insights into the evolution of human sexuality.