Theundeaddon’t usually participate in clinical study , although three supposedzombiesonce correspond to have their encephalon action measured by researchers in Haiti . Like an episode ofScooby Doo , the investigation was launched in an endeavour to uncover the identity of the spooky trio , each of whom had been recognise by locals as long - asleep individual returning from the dead .
accord to Haitian Voodoo opinion , the spirit of the dead can sometimes be captured by sorcerers calledbokors , who can then employ these souls to repair unfermented corpses into zombies . Often descry inquire the backwater of rural Haiti , these undead sleepwalkers are regularly report to local authorities , with up to a thousand zombies sighted each twelvemonth .
In a wildstudypublished in 1997 , researchers investigated three such compositor’s case , using electroencephalography and deoxyribonucleic acid testing techniques to try and get a intellectual explanation for the apparent walking corpses .
The first of these involve a woman who had died at 30 years of age , only to be spot three year later by family members who recognized her thanks to a typical facial mark . A local court then authorized the first step of the fair sex ’s grave , disclose it to be full of tilt .
key out thezombie , the study authors excuse that “ she kept her head in a lower stead , and walked extremely slowly and stiffly , barely moving her arms . ” She was also unable to communicate “ but would occasionally croak some incomprehensible but stereotyped Good Book . ”
Despite the woman ’s ostensible zombification , the researchers reveal that her “ electroencephalogram and central nervous organisation exam were unremarkable . ” Based on their judgment of her condition , the authors offer a presumptive diagnosis of catatonic schizophrenia , but ca n’t explicate how she came back from the dead .
Proposing a speculative solution , they excuse that the adult female might not have died at all , but may instead have been poisoned by a “ neuromuscular toxin ” – peradventure administered by a nefariousbokor – in society to get catalepsy and trick relatives into thinking she was dead . The shamefaced sorcerer could then have retrieved the forget torso briefly before the woman regained consciousness , while a lack of oxygen within the tomb may have result in mentality damage , thus explaining her zombie - corresponding state of matter .
Moving on , the study generator describe a 26 - class - old man who was seen at a local cockfight 19 calendar month after being swallow . The man ’s uncle was subsequently found hangdog of using sorcery to zombify the man , who was then keep chained to a log at his parents ’ house .
Once again , clinical examinations returned no supernatural findings , and the man was diagnosed with “ organic head syndrome and epilepsy . ” More importantly , desoxyribonucleic acid testing revealed that he was not the world who had go bad shortly beforehand , importantly weakening his title to automaton - hood .
In a similar case , a 31 - class - old woman was name as a villager who had been dead for 13 years . Once again , however , a medical examen revealed that she was very much still human while genetic analyses showed that she was not the deceased person after all .
Considering these latter two examples together , the study authors reason that “ mistaken designation of a wandering , mentally ill , strange by bereaved relatives is the most probable explanation . ”
Of course , they would ’ve gotten away with it if it were n’t for those meddling investigator .
