The Last Of Us series of games and the series based on it tells about the world after the pandemic of a dangerous fungus that turned people into zombies. And the creators of the game did not invent anything, they were inspired by a fungus that really exists, according to NPR..

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, also known as cordyceps, affects ants and spiders. It drains its host completely and then fills its body with spores.. After that, he makes the insect climb to a height where he begins to spread these spores, infecting other creatures..

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Bryn Dentinger, professor of biology at the University of Utah and curator of mycology at the Utah Museum of Natural History, said the fungus is the best-known and most commonly encountered mind-controlling parasite.. According to him, scientists do not fully understand how the fungus controls the brain of its host, although theories exist to explain this..

“There seems to be some combination of physical manipulation of the muscle fibers, perhaps growing into the brain itself, for example, which can influence behavior.. But it is also very likely that the host is being affected by some kind of chemical attack, be it small molecules, or proteins, or some other substances that ultimately manipulate the behavior of the brain, ”said the scientist..

Detinger noted that there are some differences between how the fungus is portrayed in the film adaptation of The Last Of Us and how it behaves in real life.. For example, infection does not occur through the mouth, and infected people are not connected to each other through a network..

And perhaps the most important difference: the fungus cannot infect humans.. "

But there are types of fungi that can withstand high enough temperatures and infect humans.. Moreover, climate change is giving fungi the ability to withstand high temperatures.. Therefore, it is possible that over time, fungi that can control the brain will be able to withstand the temperature of the human body..

“This may be one of the reasons why we are seeing more fungal infections in humans, but then again, to date, none of them are Cordyceps.. However, it is possible that this will happen in the future, but at the moment it is not possible,” said Dentinger..

But, he says, there are already species of fungi that can alter a person's thinking, such as psilocybin, also known as " Meanwhile, other types of fungi are already ubiquitous in human life.. For example, yeast, which is found in bread and in the human intestine.

And while the prospect of a fungus being able to manipulate human behavior isn't impossible, Dentinger says it's unlikely.. The properties of a fungus that allow it to attack an insect host are very specific to that insect and are not easily transferred to another species..