Psychology Commons^™

Association Between Toxocariasis And Cognitive Function In Young To Middle-Aged Adults, Bruce L. Brown, Lance D. Erickson, Shawn D. Gale, Andrew Berrett, Dawson W. Hedges

Faculty Publications

The ascarid nematodes Toxocara canis (Werner, 1782) and Toxocara cati (Schrank, 1788) may infect humans resulting in toxocariasis. A prior study associated species of Toxocara Stiles, 1905 with cognitive deficits in children. To determine if a similar association between toxocariasis and cognition exists in adults, we analysed a large dataset from the United States’ Center for Disease Control’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We used linear-regression and multivariate models to examine the association between toxocariasis as assessed by the presence of anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies and three measures of cognitive function – simple reaction time (SRT), symbol-digit substitution (SDS) and …