Caught in a gun battle during a visit to eastern Turkey, Flegr said he was not worried at all,
even though his fellow travelers were terrified.
But about 20 years ago, he told a reporter for Atlantic Monthly,
Dr. Flegr began to wonder if one-celled protozoans had
invaded his brain and started making him do crazy things.
As a cyst, the parasite can survive for many years in a not-quite dormant state,
active only to the extent, Flegr found, of influencing its host's behavior so that the
host's brain is eaten by a cat.