art and biomed, movies, public outreach
Zombies and neurobiology
Sometimes it’s amazing what turns up, when you use the web. I’m currently doing some research for a Ph.D-application concerning neuroscience (among other things) and stumbled upon this online article: A Harvard Psychiatrist Explains Zombie Neurobiology
The article does what it promises – it discusses zombie neurobiology and refers to a Havard psychiatrist who appearently is also a zombie movie fan and therefore has made zombies his specialty: “the world’s leading authority on the neurobiology of the living dead”.
Aside from being one of the many examples of the pervasive prescence of neuroscience in all aspect of western culture, this hybrid case of science and fiction also could (with only a little intellectualizing) point to the discussion about the boarders of science communication and leisure economy. Experience zombiemovies and learn about neurobiology at the same time! How’s that for new ideas on public outreach. Neurobiology sure has its moments.
31 Jul 2009 Morten Bülow
That is a great idea! Let’s get this guy to give a lecture in the auditorium here at MM. I know of the first ten people who are normally not interested in medical science that would show up :) Watching zombie flicks and learning. That is a teachers wet dream come true.
…And it isn’t just psychiatry that uses zombies as a public outreach tool. Mathematicians also fancy them:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8206280.stm
BBC also had a more serious article with a zombie-edge. Whereas the mathematicians in above mentioned article used a hypothetical zombie-virus to make models over possible unknown virus outbreak scenarios (published in Infectious Diseases Modelling Research Progress), there is an actual disease – caused by invading parasites – with zombie-like symptoms:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4683903.stm