Garrett from work, who i'd previously discussed the zombie outbreak with, came in again today with more insight from the world of ecology and biology. A type of wasp that mind controls caterpillars into protecting and nurturing it's young. The exact mechanism of action was unknown to us, but Garrett and I were able to narrow down the sources of the article about this Planteles wasp that lead to experiments by entomologists that showed the parasitic control and behavior change to be induced by the release of substances that cause chemical changes in the victims brain; a well-known and extensively studied mechanism of control that has long interested biological psychologist aka behavioral neurosciencists and of course many parasite focused biologists.
radiolab.org; season 6 episode 3
Behavioral neuroscience, also known as biological psychology,[1] biopsychology, or psychobiology[2] is the application of the principles of biology (in particular neurobiology), to the study of physiological, genetic, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in human and non-human animals. It typically investigates at the level of nerves, neurotransmitters, brain circuitry and the basic biological processes that underlie normal and abnormal behavior. Most typically, experiments in behavioral neuroscience involve non-human animal models (such as rats and mice, and non-human primates) which have implications for better understanding of human pathology and therefore contribute toevidence-based practice.
Entomology - The study of insects
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