It's Sunday, a lazy day, so today we will just briefly go over the possibility of zombie creation by neurotoxin or neurotransmitter. I've heard it said that magic is only science we have yet to understand, and perhaps this is one such case. Technically, we have already addressed a good portion of this idea in the section on creating a Haitian zombie; where neurotoxins were used in conjunction with ritual to produce a zombie. However, we didn't spend a whole lot of time on the explanation of how such a thing would work or why.
A neurotoxin is a substance (usually a protein) that effects the functioning of neurons within the body- changing or inhibiting their ability to produce or receive transmissions.
A Neurotransmitter is a substance that carries nerve impulse from one neuron to another and allows for proper functioning of every system in our body.
A change in neuron function could affect all kinds of changes within the body. As mentioned previously, Tetrodotoxin causes sensations of floating, speech impairment, paralysis, respiratory arrest, and even death, but there are a world of other substances that affect the way our brains work. Neurotransmitters, like Serotonin & Dopamine, are naturally occurring in the body and are known to effect brain cells related to mood, sexual desire and function, appetite, sleep, memory and learning, temperature regulation, and some social behaviors. Drugs to affect these neurotransmitters are currently on the market.
So is it too far fetched to believe that either through nature (or our own self important fiddling) that we might inadvertently change the functioning of the neurotransmitters in our brains and create the zombie apocalypse?
What if that new wonder drug does more than it's supposed to? Side effects: headache, listlessness, decrease motor function, overwhelming hunger for human flesh. Hmmmm.....
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neurotoxin.
http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/serotonin
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