Walking Corpse Syndrome

Hello Zombiology Students and a warm welcome to the ZomBlog.

Today we're looking at Walking Corpse Syndrome, also known as Cotard's Syndrome. This rare mental condition causes people to believe they are dead, putrefying and missing internal organs - essentially Zombieism of the mind.

You have a medical licence right?

Cotard's Syndrome takes its name from French Neurologist Jules Cotard who encountered a patient named, Mademoiselle X (perhaps a relation of Professor X). Mademoiselle X claimed to have no brain, no nerves, no chest, no stomach, and no intestines. She also believed she was immortal and therefore didn't need to eat. She died of starvation.

"I ain't related to no French Bird Bro. They don't even have a word for entrepreneur."

The condition is usually found in patients suffering from depression and schizophrenia - leading many Doctors to see it as a component of these illnesses.

More recently a patient, known only as Graham, was identified with the syndrome. Graham believed his brain had died. Neurologists Adam Zeman at the University of Exeter, UK, and Steven Laureys at the University of Liège in Belgium, met with Graham and took scans of his brain. The type of scan they carried out is called positron emission tomography (PET) and is used to produce detailed, three-dimensional images of the inside of the body. Before being scanned the patient has a radioactive substance passed into their body. The substance gives off gamma waves (a type of radiation) that can be detected by the scanner. The scans taken of Graham were the first ever conducted on someone with Cotard's Syndrome.

A PET Scan. Or maybe this is a CAT Scan. I get them confused.

What they discovered was amazing. The activity in certain areas of his brain was so low it was comparable to someone in a vegetative state.

Laureys explained,

I've been analysing PET scans for 15 years and I've never seen anyone who was on his feet, who was interacting with people, with such an abnormal scan result. Graham's brain function resembles that of someone during anaesthesia or sleep. Seeing this pattern in someone who is awake is quite unique to my knowledge.

Adam Zeman continued, "It seems plausible that the reduced metabolism was giving him this altered experience of the world, and affecting his ability to reason about it."

The condition caused Graham to completely withdraw into himself. He found no pleasure in anything, he stopped eating, speaking and even brushing his teeth. This caused his teeth to turn black, further compounding his feelings that he was dead.

After lengthy psychotherapy and drug treatment Graham gradually recovered. There have been reports that using antidepressants, antipsychotics and mood stabilizers combined with traditional talking therapies have helped those who suffer from the illness.

With being such a rare condition, research into this mysterious syndrome is very limited. Could it be that when Zombies do appear the disease affecting them will induce such a syndrome? Only time will tell.

Keep up your studies and join me again next time for more science behind the undead here on the ZomBlog.

Best wishes,

Doctor Austin

Doctor Austin ZITS BSz MSz DPep, is a Theoretical Zombiologist and Head of the Zombie Institute for Theoretical Studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland UK.

Left: Doctor Austin Right: HRH The Queen

Zombies versus Vampires

Welcome back Zombiology Students,

It’s a busy time here at the Zombie Institute. We’ve just finished developing a brand new tutorial Worst Case Scenario that premiered at the London Horror Festival during Halloween. Right now our team are organising a UK tour so do keep your eyes peeled for that. This has meant I’ve had less time to write articles for the ZomBlog, but I’m making up for it now by finally completing this Zombies versus Vampires blog to which many of you contributed your thoughts.  

As you’re no doubt aware this year saw countless news stories appearing relating to cannibalistic attacks. These stories have inspired the term ‘Zombie Summer’ and are almost always cited as being indicative of Zombies, leading many to believe that a Zombie outbreak is in progress, or at the very least, building up steam. In a previous blog I discussed this, and to reiterate, they are not Zombie-like at all. However, whilst talking with my friends at the Zombie Shop, they made an interesting point, “...was there an influx of 'real' vampire attacks after the release of 'Interview with a [sic] Vampire'?”

Before we start, can I get you a drink? No. Wait. I meant something to eat. Damn it! It's the Murdoch interview all over again!

Has the prevalence of the Zombie genre (e.g. The Walking Dead, Zombie events, walks, etc) caused reporters to become obsessed, and see Zombies everywhere? If so, why hasn’t the Twilight series created a similar pattern for Vampires? Or as Zombie Shop point out, did Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire evoke such a response when it was published, or again when adapted as film?

It’s important to state here that I am not examining ‘real’ Vampire stories, those that pertain to describe the exploits of a mythical being who feeds on blood. I for one am not an expert in Vampirology. I am merely looking for news stories that attribute unusual assaults/murders to Vampires, or set these stories in that context.

Interview with the Vampire was published in 1976, and the later film adaption in 1994. During my research I couldn’t locate many reports of Vampire-like attacks following either of these periods.

This may be due to the lack of Internet, it was a simpler time, where not every news story was posted online and kept available until the end of the universe. However, in 1998, 22 year old Joshua Rudiger ran around the streets of San Francisco slashing homeless victim’s throats and drinking their blood. He claimed to be a 2,000 year old Vampire, and a Samurai.  

There are a wide range of such stories available in the 21st century, amazingly some very recent stories are far more extreme than that of the Miami Cannibal. Yet we haven’t seemed to have heard of them.

Take the case in Florida of Josephine Smith, a 22 year old woman. In September 2011 she viciously attacked an elderly homeless man, biting chunks of flesh from his face, lips, and arms. Her final words before beginning the assault were, “I am a vampire, I am going to eat you.” When arrested Smith claimed to have no recollection of the attack. This story is very similar to the recent Miami Cannibal case. The victim in both instances was a homeless person, both involved biting, and both attackers carried out the attack naked. Yet this story apparently failed to capture the public’s eye. Smith wasn’t even deemed worthy of her own nickname as the ‘Florida Vampire’ or even ‘Bitey Lady’.

And this is by no means the only one;

May, 2006: A 15 year old girl attacked three classmates in New York, slashing their throats, biting them, and attempting to drink their blood. The ‘vampire’ was charged with second degree assault as a minor and released. Read in full: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/12547-vampire-girl-attacks-classmates

December, 2010: A 20 year old in Alabama attempted to burn a ‘V’ into a teenager’s forehead, the arresting Detective described him as, “a want-to-be vampire”. Read in full: 

http://www.emirates247.com/offbeat/crazy-world/man-claims-he-s-a-vampire-2010-12-10-1.327469

August, 2011: An 18 year old man appeared in court accused of, amongst other things, cutting young woman, biting them, and telling them he was a vampire. Read in full:

http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_e09b91ea-bc90-11e0-9421-001cc4c002e0.html

August, 2011: A 19 year old Texas man, who claimed to be a 500 year old vampire (from Hell), broke into a woman’s apartment and bit her, then fled shouting that he, “didn’t want to have to feed on humans”. Read in full:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/texas-man-bites-woman-claims-vampire/story?id=14315864#.UAl4nrSe68A  

June, 2012: A San Diego man with ‘vampire teeth’ was arrested for attacking a 55 year old homeless man. Read in full:

http://www.pakalertpress.com/2012/06/12/man-with-vampire-teeth-attacks-homeless-man/

I'm often mistaken for R-Patz

June, 2012: In Denver a woman was arrested after attacking two people in a convenience store, groping and biting one man, then biting the female cashier. Read in full:

http://www.emirates247.com/news/woman-jailed-for-vampire-like-assaults-2012-06-24-1.464211

A notable difference between these stories and their Zombie counterparts is tone. When reading the Vampire stories it’s obvious that they don’t paint the ‘Vampire’ as being real, but rather as an (often) disturbed person. Yet many of the Zombie articles cite the incidents as being clear proof that a Zombie is real and that a ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ is beginning.       

A fellow Zombie researcher, Louise, had an interesting perspective:

Eating human flesh, particularly the face, in public places is a bit more terrifying than draining blood in public. Plus, those acting like 'zombies' seem unconscious of what they're doing, whereas the 'vampires' are probably very conscious of their actions ... which, to me, make it a little more scary.

Another student of mine, Mike, had this to say:

The main issue is the background of each of the two types of story, vampiric behaviour has always been seen as erotic, personal, and this is why people are attracted to the whole vampire thing due to books and movies. The vampire has lost its ‘darkness’ and is more acceptable now as such the media likes is shock value and that's why the ‘zombie’ stories still loom large in the media. There is nothing sexy about eating someone’s face.

However, fans of the film Zombie Strippers may disagree with the last sentence.  

Ultimately I haven’t determined a single reason as to why assault stories framed as ‘Zombie Attacks’ are more prominent and have a tendency to go wildly viral compared to those described as ‘Vampire Attacks’. But I do like the following idea from one of my top students, Flora, on how we can make the Zombie a more attractive story in the press:

Zombies lack the glamorous image the press likes to promote, but do get the 'shock, horror, yuk' response. Redress the balance by getting Gok to do a zombie make-over, thus making them appear more on-trend and ask Alistair Campbell to do some negative spin about the more gruesome vampire activity, showing them in their worst possible light in a Sunday newspaper expose. Suddenly zombies will be the ones to get the positive headlines and vampires will be so last year they won't get a mention, except in a short disparaging paragraph on page 10.

I'll leave you with this brain tickler from the enigmatic Philosoraptor...

If any of you out there want to know anything about the real science behind zombies, do send your questions to info@zombiescience.co.uk or post them in our Book of Faces (www.facebook.com/zombiescience).

The truth may well be out there,

Doctor Austin

Doctor Austin ZITS BSz MSz DPep, is a Theoretical Zombiologist and Head of the Zombie Institute for Theoretical Studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland UK.  

Walking Dead Rise of the Governor: Competition Winners

Greetings Zombiology Students,

The big moment is here, time to announce the winners of the Walking Dead competition. It wasn’t easy, picking just four out of all your wonderful entries. Well some were wonderful, some were down right terrifying, the things you people would do in this event, my word!

It was somewhat disappointing that nearly every entry came down on the side of violence. In fact no one at all suggested finding a cure. At least I know good old Hershel is with me on this. Well maybe not after last week’s episode!

I realize she doesn't look like my wife anymore, but the sex is still the same

So without further ado, here they are:

‘Naturally, knee capping my partner ala Shane to buy me time would certainly be an easy/quick option. However, since it's early in the outbreak I would look for the nearest manhole cover to secure my hasty retreat!’

HW

‘If I found myself surrounded by zombies closing in during the outbreak in Atlanta, I would first pop open the trunk (boot) to the nearest vehicle(s) and grab a tire iron. It should be the most common to find hardened implement in a street setting to defend myself with and also is a handy tool. It can be used with leverage to force open padlocks or chains on locked gates, and to smash windows for access to vehicles and buildings.  I'd also grab a flashlight being another common item in a car, and essential to my initial escape plan. Lacking that, I'd use a lighter or matches.  I'm now minimally equipped with two items- tool/weapon and light source (potential for fire).

Given a downtown scenario in a large metropolitan area, I doubt I'd last long in the streets and nearby buildings would be likely to house more zombies or potentially dangerous panicked civilians. My hunch would be that at the onset of an outbreak, the least likely place to encounter zombies or other folks would be in the sewer system. If I could access a manhole cover with advance time, I'd use the tire iron for leverage and to help close the lid when descending.  The most important thing at this point would be to get my bearings straight so that I know what street direction I'm facing and to align myself as closely as possible to the direction of the assumed "safe" house. If I do encounter zombies in tunnel, the slight advantage I have is being able to defend myself without being quickly outnumbered and surrounded as I would be on the streets above.

Of course in the unlikely event that I'm outnumbered by zombies in both directions of a tunnel, I'm pretty much done for. But you can't live by giving up, so I would fight to the next manhole access and work on a plan B, by skipping across the tops of car rooftops. I'd also do this given no time to get tools or access to a sewer manhole. Zombies would likely be on the street itself, not as agile to quickly climb up a vehicle and would not be found posing across the tops of engine hoods like Tawny Kitaen in a Whitesnake video. Moving across the top of vehicles where possible would also provide better visibility and help identify an escape path.

Once safe from the immediate threat of large numbers of zombies in downtown Atlanta, I'd seek the long term needs such as food, water, medical supplies, better weapons, and transportation.’

ML

‘As it is likely to be taking place during the day (people would be less inclined to venture out in the dark), I can assume that the outbreak has attracted the attention of the emergency services, at first to secure the area, and latterly to evacuate the survivors. Knowing this would also indicate that some emergency servicemen have fallen to the horde; police officers, ambulance workers and fireman to name but a few.

With this in mind, my first instinct would be to find the nearest police squad car, always careful that there isn't any infected officers nearby, or worse; an infected prisoner inside. As with all US Police Squad cars, they come standard equipped with a Police Scanner, a GPS, and a 12 Gauge Shotgun in the trunk. Upon hatching the trunk and freeing the shotgun from its hold, I would now be armed and, whether I had to hotwire the car or was lucky enough to find the keys nearby, I would have my escape vehicle.

I guess this stuff is practical, but I was really hoping for a crispy cream 

After clearing the surrounding area of any infected, I would drive to a nearby safe spot, not the Safe House suggested. From here I'd be close enough to hold back for any survivors, but far away from the immediate danger of the Zombie Horde. Using the Police Scanner/CB Radio, I would track and locate any potential safe zone, and/or confirm just how safe the aforementioned safe house actually is. With this information, and any potential survivors I have come across/saved in the interim, I would head to a nearby store for supplies.

At the store, shotgun in hand, I would grab some emergency supplies; tinned food, bottled water, first aid kits being the primary targets. Once supplied, I would return to the car and base my next destination on my earlier investigation; NOT on the impulsive suggestions of any would be heroes now attached to my convoy. 

If I was challenged by any of my fellow survivors, I would ram the butt of my gun into the naysayer's face, breaking their nose and firmly establishing who was in charge. Now, with the survivors knowing I am calling the shots, we could retreat to my desired destination with a vehicle, weapon and supplies.’  

GR

‘I wouldn’t try to escape but rather get bitten and become one with my zombie family, embracing the zombieness for its benefits; no more concern about appearance, bills or the stress of the daily grind. Why are zombie’s always the bad guys, they are neither good nor bad, they just are.’

KB  

A brand new copy of the book is winging its way to you all now.

Don’t forget to also pick up the official Zombie Sciencebook on Amazon now. 

I really wanted a bike, but thanks anyway honey

What better gift to give a loved one this Christmas than the gift of survival.  

Best wishes,

Doctor Austin

Doctor Austin ZITS BSz MSz DPep, is a Theoretical Zombiologist and Head of the Zombie Institute for Theoretical Studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland UK. 

The Walking Dead Rise of the Governor: Book Review & Competition

Happy Halloween Zombiology Students,

For a wee treat I'm taking a break from the science journals to review an exciting new novel from Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. He's teamed up with acclaimed thriller writer Jay Bonansinga to tell us the back story of infamous comic book character, the Governor.

They've certainly set themselves a challenge. Can a notoriously nasty man like Philip Blake find his way into reader's hearts?

Rise of the Governor takes us back to the start of zombie outbreak where we find Philip, his daughter Penny, brother Brian and two high school friends fighting for survival.

During the story our band of survivors take a terrifying trip across the country trying to reach Atlanta and the supposed safety of refugee camps. But in true Walking Dead style, anything, and everything, gets in their way.

Personally I adore the Walking Dead world, and would go as far as to say it's the best imagining of a zombie world since my old pal Georgey Romero created Night of the Living Dead. Kirkman has even given the nod that Romero was his inspiration in forming the world.

As a scientist I too think it's better that little is said about the biological cause of the Zombieism in the Walking Dead. It allows you to theorise with your imagination instead of nit picking your way through reams of illogical made up science. Yes, it might not be possible at present for people to rise from the dead, but, maybe it will happen in future...

If you're a fan of the comic books and the epic, movie style-esque dramatic imagery - don't worry, Rise of the Governor doesn't disappoint. The authors have given careful consideration to mis-en-scene with every blow, slice, stab and shot colourfully described from 'a mop head slapping the floor' to 'the two bodies are launched in a cloud of pink mist.'

An ensemble of characters emerge across the journey. A favourite for me was the Chalmers Family Band, led by Father David and his two daughters, Tara and April. The latter of whom forms an almost romantic relationship with Philip. Here Kirkman does what he does best,  give us real hope, only to snatch it away and leave us lower than ever before.

The tale ends with an unexpected twist, one I of course won't reveal here. I read many reviews that have strong feelings on this, but personally, I have no opinion on it. It's the creative path they choose to follow and I was happy with where it led. No doubt these talented writers could write their way down any avenue they want to explore. In part, the ending does help to answer the question I posed at the outset.

The ending does feel like a hard stop, but this novel is but the first of a trilogy from this new deadly duo, something I for one will be eagerly awaiting. So rather than the end, it's more of a to be continued...

Overall The Walking Dead Rise of the Governor successfully brings the concept to its third medium, and unlike it's screen and graphic incarnations the fact it's purely text lets the reader create the visuals. It's fast paced, addictive and often amusing. For me it's essence is summed up by an elderly gentleman met towards the end of the novel:

It ain't the dead things you gotta be mindful of around here...it's the living.

Pan MacMillan have very kindly given us several copies of The Walking Dead Rise of the Governor for you to win. For your chance to get one send an email to info@zombiescience.co.uk with your name, postal address and answer to this question:

You find yourself alone and unarmed on an Atlanta street during the Walking Dead zombie outbreak. Zombie's close in from all sides. The safe house is still a few blocks away. How would you escape?

Whilst this plan might allow you to pull, it might also cost you your face

The most creative answers win, closing date Monday 28th November 2011, at midday.

Good luck and I hope tonight brings you more treats than tricks,

Doctor Austin

Doctor Austin ZITS BSz MSz DPep, is a Theoretical Zombiologist and Head of the Zombie Institute for Theoretical Studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland UK.

Get your copy of Doctor Austin’s Zombie Science 1Z textbook on Amazon now