{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T06:16:03Z","timestamp":1778652963542,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778630400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    This review examines whether cat ownership, via exposure to the neurotropic parasite\n                    <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic>\n                    , contributes to vulnerability for psychotic, depressive, and anxiety symptoms.\n                    <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic>\n                    establishes lifelong latent infection in the brain and muscle, where it can modulate dopaminergic signaling, neuroinflammation, and tryptophan\u2013kynurenine metabolism, providing a biologically plausible pathway to altered cognition, mood, and behavior. Epidemiological and meta-analytic data indicate small-to-moderate associations between\n                    <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic>\n                    seropositivity and schizophrenia, with more variable but suggestive links to depression and anxiety. Evidence for cat ownership as an independent risk factor is inconsistent: some cohorts and recent meta-analyses report elevated odds of schizophrenia-related outcomes in those exposed to cats, whereas rigorously controlled studies frequently find attenuated or null effects. Methodological limitations, alternative explanations, and cultural implications are discussed, and priorities for mechanism-informed, longitudinal and interventional research are outlined.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2026.1764597","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T05:56:55Z","timestamp":1778651815000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["From cats to cortex: T. gondii and psychosis, depression, and anxiety"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Gabriel","family":"Andrade","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Sciences, College of Medicine, Ajman University","place":["Ajman, United Arab Emirates"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abderrahim","family":"Benlahcene","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, College of Humanities and Sciences, Ajman University","place":["Ajman, United Arab Emirates"]},{"name":"Humanities and Social Sciences Research Center (HSSRC), Ajman University","place":["Ajman, United Arab Emirates"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dalia","family":"Bedewy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, College of Humanities and Sciences, Ajman University","place":["Ajman, United Arab Emirates"]},{"name":"Humanities and Social Sciences Research Center (HSSRC), Ajman University","place":["Ajman, United Arab Emirates"]},{"name":"Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, Tanta University","place":["Tanta, Egypt"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.3390\/healthcare12010083","article-title":"Microbes and mental illness: Past, present, and future","volume":"12","author":"Bransfield","year":"2023","journal-title":"Healthcare"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0020-7519(00)00124-7","article-title":"Toxoplasma gondii: From animals to humans","volume":"30","author":"Tenter","year":"2000","journal-title":"Int J For Parasitol"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0090203","article-title":"Toxoplasmosis \u2013 A global threat. 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