Inside Zombie Brains

Now, then, to the brain-eating. The zombie virus as Schlozman describes it basically gnaws the brain down to the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure responsible for the "fight or flight" response. The zombies always respond by fighting because another critical part of the brain, the ventromedial hypothalamus, which tells you when you've eaten enough, is broken.

cnn

I am not a neurologist. I really can't comment on whether this is a valid description or not. But I do love zombies, and any medical attempts to explain their probability. I also like that a doctor can be lighthearted enough to write a book on it. I may give it a read.

You might not expect someone with those credentials to take zombies seriously, but it turns out the undead are a great way to explore real-world health issues: why certain nasty diseases can destroy the brain, how global pandemics create chaos and fear, and what should be done about people infected with a highly contagious and incurable lethal illness

The thought of a virus is nothing new. I think the fear of zombies or the fascination stems from our fear of pandemics. But what if that disease doesn't kill our relatives(or some of us hope in-laws) but changes them into something entirely different?

I have always been fascinated with the fascination with zombies.

Oh! How Zombies kept me company on those long and stormy nights. For me it all started with with Dawn of the Dead. How awesome is the original...well I love it. Then came Thriller, Then all the great ones like Return of the Living Dead... Well you know which ones are good. But I think the one that made the most impact to me was the 28 franchise. Kind of real world stuff that really make you whanna to prepare the a Zombie uprising.....just incase.

As for the psychological aspect, I never really gave it much thought. Why do we like Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves so much. They all deal with a kind of metamorphosis, cannibalism and almost a sensual aspect in all three. The Vampire (Dracula) Very well groomed and debonair, The Werewolf, being ravaged, pure animal magnetism...maybe. The Zombie, The man looks in the distance see what he think is his wife. With out thinking and out of despiration, walks over and tries to reason with the zombie wife. A glint of understanding shines in her eye. The husband weaps. The wife pounces and eats the dude. Together Forever.

But that's just me. S & F

Zombies always bored me to the extreme because I lacked the imagination to see it as a real possibility. After hearing of virus's which could mimic a zombified state, I gained a lot of interest in the idea and art behind it. I recall an article posted on ATS more than a year back now that talked of several real viruses which could promote a zombie-like state of being. Will look for it.

Zombies are the ultimate monster. While Vampires are confined to darkness, and Werewolves confined the cycles of the moon, Zombies, on the other hand, stalk their prey day and night. People always say, "zombies are sooo slow", yet when you stop to sleep, they gain ground. They eat until they are full, and then they eat some more, and more and more, until it pours from their mouths and leaks from their asses, or until their stomach linings burst and their bellies bloat. Ahhh the living dead zombies, the horror of them. Their poor eyesight makes them attracted to light and motion, to sound, and smell. They are silent, they don't moan. How could they, they don't even breathe.

I've always been more fearful of the lesser known "living zombie". The man infected with some maddening disease, leaving him aggressive and violent, yet able to think, run, swim, and climb, use tools. Maybe fueled to eat flesh because the virus is flesh eating, and if the host can feed enough, then the symptom of being eaten alive by the virus will be stayed off.

I've written quite a bit about zombies in my life. Never really tried to do much with any of my work, though I did send in two script treatments years ago. The first one came back with a note attached "Too horrific". I brushed it off as it was the winter after 9/11/01 and maybe studios were weary of apocalyptic themes. Never got word back on the second script except for an email stating that they passed it off to a second "interested party" and was ultimately lost in the changing of hands between 3rd and 4th parties. A year and a half later '28 Days Later' came out and had several ideas and bits of dialogue that seemed to be directly from my original treatment. Can't confirm what really happened, and it may just be another "Monkey Island" case, but whatever. What's done is done, and Hollywood has only two methods of making movies these days, rip offs or remakes.

well it might be real search.yahoo.com... from the search link www.zombiehub.com... from this link

Virus already exists
An extreme behavior change could drive a person mad. One might even desire to attack others on site. This would benefit the virus by allowing it to spread through a bit from the infected organize to the victim. It’s understandable that because they don’t have control of their desires and motives the infected would loose their gift of freewill in other words a form of zombification. Viruses have the devastating ability to spread very rapidly and can easily cause a human epidemic or a zombie apocalypse .

this would explain why you need to get a rabies shot when your in southern Utah and see bats fly around you do not need to get bit, this is just one article www.deseretnews.com... and the there is the boys that had a bat fly in to there tent this is the news article connect2utah.com... the headline form the article

Church Camping Trip Leads to Teens Needing Rabies Shots

so why is it that you do not need to get bit is it Rabies air borne? NA could thi snow be the zombi infection?

Actually, I like the idea of zombies - it means I don't have to waste gas driving to the range when I want target practice

A zombie apoc. would definitely be better than a NWO prison planet control grid. reasons

1.) we the peeps would have a fighting chance
2.) after it was over there would be plenty of houses, car, yachts, etc.. to go around
3.) all the p-o'd would have a release against a deserving advisary

reply to post by Mactire


That was a great response. I never thought of it that way. The unstoppable monster. Much like the Borg. Unfeeling, unthinking, ever moving and it won't stop to get you.

"Inside Zombie Brains"

You mean Apple and Google product buyers, do you?

reply to post by bekod


Rabies is another disease that is not unlike a zombie state. As for rabies shots, I actually have them.
Go ahead, make jokes, I can take it. LOL

Because it is controlled in the US, we forget what a devastating disease it can be. it does affect the brain. The only way to test for it is to remove brain matter. So that means certain death.

Rabies can lay dormant for up to six months after exposure. but once symptoms show, there is no cure.

In countries like India, where there isn't adequate vaccination, 100,000k people die each year by this horrible death. I have seen rabies up front, it is frightening and makes your blood run cold.

But you bring up a good point, it is much like zombieism(is that a word?) where you have an unthinking, unstoppable, on their way to death, creature.

Only six people have surived rabies, five are vegetables, only one has ever survived intact, a 16 year old girl. And that is only because when she showed symptoms, a doctor induced a coma and spent days throwing the medical book at her.It may have been genetics, who knows. But it hasnt' been recreated since.

I found this article today which seems kind of relevant
The worlds most wicked bugs

The bit describing the Emerald Cockroach wasp made me shiver

"She finds herself a good one (cockroach), she stings it — and the sting paralyzes it for a minute — and she's able to get her stinger right inside the brain of the roach, that actually disables it from any instincts to run away," Stewart says. "It makes it this very docile, obedient cockroach." The wasp is then able to lead the cockroach around and place it wherever she'd like it to be before laying her eggs in the cockroach's belly. After the larvae hatch, they eat the roach's interior organs and use its outer shell as a protective exterior.

reply to post by nixie_nox
so have i and yes it is not a pretty picture my en counter was with a raccoon no i did not get close nor bit, but the sit of it and its last actions was with out a doubt ... i will stop there, do not what to remember it find this is bad enough, and yes it could happen, read this news.nationalgeographic.com... from the link

"Zombie Virus" Possible via Rabies-Flu Hybrid?
Highly improbable genetic tweak could create mutant virus.

H1n5 influenza-pandemic.com... or N5H1www.cdc.gov... yes if you go to the links and read.from the first link

To date, H5N1 remains mainly a virus affecting birds, although it has killed more than 200 people since 2003. But scientists say it is the most likely source of the next deadly flu pandemic in humans, since it may soon mutate into a form transmitted easily from person to person.

and from the second
www.cdc.gov... from the link

Avian Influenza A Virus Infections of Humans

I still think a rabies-like disease, like we saw with the Rage virus in 28 Hours, is probably how it could actually occur.

Rabies is extremely virulent, so if a mutated strain started spreading, (especially an airborne variety), we could actually see something like a zombie pandemic.

If just from fluid transmission though, would be easier to contain.

If you look up the mortality rate of untreated rabies, it's almost 100% certain. In addition, the aggression symptom would be similar to zombies....

The good news though, is that a squirt gun could be an effective weapon against such zombies, as a fear of water also is a symptom.

Such a great topic and change from what I've been reading...
Thanks nixie.


All I have to say is that if there is an outbreak...
America would be the only survivors.

Wanna know why?

Because in other countries...guns are banned or illegal to own.





And we all know how many guns us Americans own.

There's a parasite that most humans already have in their system that's been compared to a zombie virus. It's called Toxoplasmosis.

Here are some facts from Public Health

Toxoplasmosis is found in humans worldwide, and in many species of animals and birds. Cats are the definitive host of the parasite. Human infection may result from: Blood transfusions or solid organ transplants Carelessly handling cat litter, which can lead to accidental consumption of infectious particles Eating contaminated soil Eating raw or undercooked meat (lamb, pork, and beef) Toxoplasmosis also affects people who have weakened immune systems. The infection may also be passed from an infected mother to her baby through the placenta. See: Congenital toxoplasmosis

From an article in Wikipedia:

Possible link to psychiatric disorders Studies have been conducted that show the toxoplasmosis parasite may affect behavior and may present as or be a causative or contributory factor in various psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.[9][10][11] In 11 of 19 scientific studies, T. gondii antibody levels were found to be significantly higher in individuals affected by first-incidence schizophrenia than in unaffected persons. Individuals with schizophrenia are also more likely to report a clinical history of toxoplasmosis than those in the general population.[12] Recent work at the University of Leeds has found that the parasite produces an enzyme with tyrosine hydroxylase and phenylalanine hydroxylase activity. This enzyme may contribute to the behavioral changes observed in toxoplasmosis by altering the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in mood, sociability, attention, motivation and sleep patterns. Schizophrenia has long been linked to dopamine dysregulation.[13]

Hmm..intresting...I wonder what two viruses could possibly mutate to cause such a disease? As for the airbourne rabies theory:It exists and is known as Lyssavirus 1 and European Bat Lyssavirus 2. The symptoms of these viruses are similar to those of rabies and so the viruses are both known as bat rabies.This was taken from wikipedia. Thanks op for a change in posts.HAARP seems to be the only rant these days.lol

Well fortunately for us, Zombies cannot occur without a soul implanting into the dead body first. A soul is like an electric cord and plug, and the body is the electric socket. A body cannot run without the "electricity" of a soul. While earthbound souls (ghosts) could enter the dead body, it would take a great amount of energy, a greater amount that they would have after being dead for so long, to "re-charge" it. Even if the zombie virus were to enable a dead tissue to come alive again. And as for a person who just died- and then turning into a zombie- most people do cross over immediately to the otherside- regardless of religion- so I doubt they would choose to stick around to haunt in their rotting body and eat brains.

thought i would add a little more to this thread as I found an article today from Popular Science(March 2011) that was an intresting read.

Could Scientists Really Create A Zombie Apocalypse Virus?

Scroll Down to the comments and read the posts by bdhoro87, it is a descent scenario this person brings up..wish i could star him..lol. Anyway..enjoy the read.

Ever since I learnt about prions in college I always got shivers down my spine. Imagine a misformed protein that closely resembles our own. Now imagine that every single protein the prion touches automatically mutates into that prion. including the proteins in our brain. Just like in The Crazies I imagine some scietists deep in an underground lab have manipulated a prion or virus that could destabalize a local population.