DO ZOMBIES FEEL PAIN? EXPLORING SENSORY NEUROPATHY

Artists, authors, and filmmakers have reinterpreted and re-contextualized the living dead so often that our official Advisory Board has been forced to explore an almost infinite number of scientific scenarios to account for their disparate depictions, traits, and attributes. We have witnessed the ever-changing evolution of slow zombies, fast zombies, funny zombies, etc.

But one of the most traumatizing scenes in Dan O’Bannon’s zombie classic The Return of the Living Dead features a dismembered corpse talking about “the pain of being dead”. It was most certainly a source of nightmares and kindertrauma for an entire generation back in the mid 1980s. And even worse, it was considered a lighthearted horror comedy at the time!

Today, zombies easily shrug off knife attacks and bullets in their pursuit of flesh and human brains. But why don’t the living dead seem to experience any physical pain? Beyond a few genetic and hereditary disorders, we almost immediately encounter peripheral neuropathy or sensory neuropathy. These afflictions still encompass a wide variety of causes but inevitably lead to the same symptoms according to the Mayo Clinic: a loss of sensation within the body.

“Peripheral neuropathy, a result of damage to the nerves located outside of the brain and spinal cord (peripheral nerves), often causes weakness, numbness and pain, usually in the hands and feet. It can also affect other areas and body functions including digestion, urination and circulation … Peripheral neuropathy can result from traumatic injuries, infections, metabolic problems, inherited causes and exposure to toxins.”

Okay, now let’s just take this definition and apply it to the living dead. Traumatic injuries; like being ravaged by some cannibalistic corpse biting through our nerves, muscle, and tendons. Infections; perhaps comparable to the undead virus coursing through the blood and saliva of an unstoppable zombie. And what about that really brief, yet incredibly conspicuous, mention of toxins? Let’s be honest here, this is basically the plot of The Return of the Living Dead.

Both peripheral and sensory neuropathy can also line up with ataxia which causes involuntary muscle movements. Even the word itself means “without coordination” and can refer to the unusual sort of movement often found in zombies. There are actually several types of ataxia. But sensory ataxia results from nerve damage and can affect physical sensations like pain.

Long story short; zombies have most likely experienced nerve damage that contributes to the common notion that they experience little to no physical pain. It could just be due to trauma, injury, infection, or Trioxin. But they most certainly seem to ignore discomfort in their ultimate pursuit of human flesh. Hence, our definition of a “relentlessly aggressive” human corpse.

Perhaps the living dead still experience pain and simply choose to ignore it. Their insatiable hunger may override all biological warning signs and signals. And we’ll certainly explore those ideas soon. However, for now, the neuroscientific view of nerve damage outside the brain and spinal cord lead us to a more simple explanation. Zombies may not experience pain due to their deathly trauma; a rather unfortunate, yet deadly, combination of injury and infection.