Questionnaires
Rhesus Factor: Our questionnaire focused on possible associations pf Rh factor and health can be found here.
Flower Preference Questionnaire: This project searches for the morphological flower traits that influence the attractiveness of flowers to humans. Link here
Critters: How dangerous or repulsive do you find certain creatures? Click here to view the questionnaire.
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Grant projects
- Conservation of Rh Polymorphism in Modern Humans through Selection Favoring Heterozygotes – The Influence of the Genotype on Fertility and Viability
- Project No. 18-13692S, Czech Science Foundation
- Principal investigator: Jaroslav Flegr
- Duration: 1st January 2018 – 31st December 2020
- Abstract: RhD polymorphism is an evolutionary enigma. Populations should be monomorphic, as in the
past, there was a strong selection pressure against individuals with the less frequent phenotype
because of haemolytic disease. RhD negativity and heterozygosity often have opposite effect on
health of an individual, which could cause polymorphism to be maintained by
frequency-dependent selection. The project focuses on fertility and viability of offspring of
humans with different RhD phenotype and genotype. In a prospective study, we will follow a
course of pregnancy and perinatal period. In a retrospective study, we will extract clinical data
and send out a questionnaire focused on viability and health of offspring. We will determine
Toxoplasma-positivity of mothers, because the strongest effect of RhD on number of health
functions including reproduction was described in relation to toxoplasmosis. The results should
both clarify the role of selection for heterozygotes in maintenance of genetic polymorphism and
bring important information on consequences of RhD for human health and fecundity.
- The role of raising cats and dogs and of their infections in development of clinical and subclinical forms of depression, OCD, phobias and psychoses
- Project No. 16-20958S, Czech Science Foundation
- Principal investigator: Jaroslav Flegr
- Duration: 1st January 2016 – 31st December 2018
- Abstract: Raising pets, mainly dogs and cats, usually have positive impact on mental health of the owner.
On the other hand, the pets may become vectors of certain infectious diseases, some of which
have a demonstrable impact on mental health of the infected individuals. Specifically, they can
increase the risk of developing schizophrenia or OCD, attempting suicide, and possibly also of
anxieties of phobias. Most of the performed studies describing aforementioned associations
were, however, conducted on clinical samples and not on a general population. The goal of our
project is to proceed with a similar study on a sample of roughly 10,000 individuals from general
Czech population recruited through our Facebook page. The sample of this magnitude will
enable us to consider and compare the positive and the negative effects pets’ keeping has on
human health. The respondents will complete an extensive web questionnaire comprising of at
least three standard psychological tests as well as a large anamnestic survey investigating the
pet breeding, disease history and contacts with known risk factors.
You can find more information about our laboratory and research here.