Behavioral Symptom E: Self-Other Delusion
So, what exactly did we do to piss off the living dead? Oh sure, you probably had a grudge or
two with someone who's risen from the grave, but most of the walkers coming after you have
no idea who you are.
Zombies are just plain delusional; they see us as something else, something they can't make
sense of.
Individual Work:
(i) The ability to recognize "self" from "other" may be reflected in a set of neurons called mirror
neurons. What are mirror neurons? How are they different from other types of neurons?
Where can mirror neurons be found in the human brain?
Mirror neurons are neurons that are only activated when something is seen or done. Mirror
neurons can be found in the frontal cortex. Mirror neurons differ from other types of neurons in
many ways, one of them being that the mirror neurons only activate when a certain action is seen
or done.
(ii) Given what you know about mirror neurons, do you think that a zombie’s mirror neurons
would be activated when it sees a human eating a hamburger? What about a zombie eating a
humanburger? Explain your answer.
I think the zombies’ neurons wouldn’t work like a normal person and the neurons would only
be going to the feeling of hunger and determination. A zombie seeing a human would be
completely enthralled by the chase. If a zombie was eating a human burger, then it is likely
other zombies would see them eating it and want to eat it too but only because the burger is
made of human.
(iii) Based on your answer in (ii), what does this suggest about a zombie’s mirror neurons? How
is it different from those of a human?
The zombies mirror neurons wouldn’t work normally and seeing a person eating a burger would
have no effect on the zombie and the zombie would still go after the person anyways. If a
person was hungry and saw another human eating food, then the person would then go look
for their own food or try to steal the food that the other person can fill their hunger.
Behavioral Symptom E: Self-Other Delusion
Expert Group Discussion Questions:
1. Compare your answers for the Individual Work questions. Resolve any conflicting
answers through discussion with other experts.
2. Mirror neurons are believed to play an important role in social bonding and empathy.
However, zombies clearly do neither of these. When zombies see a fellow zombie explode into
bits they do not yell in agony or feel sad about losing a comrade. Perhaps a zombie’s emotional
responses are also impaired—if so, what are the associated brain areas that are impaired in the
zombie but not in humans? Explain your answer.
The hypothalamus controls emotions so the zombie would have an impaired hypothalamus.