We don’t see the undead, the undead, or the ghouls being studied in clinical trials. But recently, three alleged zombies once agreed to have their brain activity measured by researchers in Haiti.
Reminiscent of a cartoon episode, the investigation was initiated with the aim of uncovering the identity of the eerie trio, each known to locals as long-dead and returning individuals. According to Haitian Voodoo beliefs, the souls of the dead can sometimes be captured by sorcerers called “bokor” (“caplata” for women), which these spirits can then use to turn fresh corpses into zombies. Often seen roaming the quiet and secluded areas of the Haitian countryside, these “dead sleepwalkers” are regularly reported to local authorities, with up to a thousand zombies reported each year.
In an impressive study published in 1997, researchers investigated three such cases using electroencephalography and DNA testing techniques to try to find a plausible explanation for these “zombies.”
The first concerned a woman who was thought to have died at the age of 30, but was noticed by family members three years later thanks to a distinctive facial mark. A local court later authorized the exhumation of the woman’s tomb, which turned out to be full of stones.
The study authors explain that when describing the “zombie,” it “walks extremely slowly and stiffly, holding its head in a tilted position and barely moving its arms.” He was also unable to communicate and occasionally muttered some obscure but trite words.
A “Haitian zombie”The researchers note that his “electroencephalogram and central nervous system examination were outstanding.” The authors are unable to explain how (or whether) he came back from death, although they had diagnosed a possible catatonic schizophrenia based on their assessment of his condition.
The truth of the matter is that poisoning can be
Suggesting a speculative solution, they say, the woman may not have died at all, but may instead have been poisoned by a “neuromuscular toxin”, possibly administered by a bokor, causing catalepsy and convincing her relatives that she was dead. Although the guilty sorceress dug the buried body from the ground shortly before the woman regained consciousness, the lack of oxygen in the tomb may have caused permanent brain damage, which may explain her zombie-like state.
In the second case, the study’s authors describe a 26-year-old man seen at a local cockfight 19 months after he was buried. The man’s uncle was later found guilty of using magic to zombie the man, who was kept chained to a log in his family’s home.
Once again, clinical examinations found no supernatural signs and the man was diagnosed with “organic brain syndrome and epilepsy.” More importantly, DNA testing revealed that he was not the man who had recently died, significantly weakening his claim to be a zombie.
In a similar incident, it was determined that a 31-year-old woman was a villager who had been dead for 13 years. However, once again, medical examination revealed that he was still human, while genetic analysis showed that he was not the deceased.
Evaluating these last two examples together, the study’s authors conclude that “the misidentification of a traveler, a mentally ill, a stranger by bereaved relatives is the most likely explanation.”
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