How much brain damage to "kill" a zombie?

[hadrian0117]

Zombies (at least in the Romeroverse) can be taken out by a bullet to the brain or severe head trauma, but how? Living humans can survive massive trauma to the brain and still survive; Phineas_Gage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage) survived having an iron pipe blasted through his skull and lived for another decade with little medical intervention. So what part of a zombie's brain needs to destroyed to "kill"? Wasn't there a "science paper" about the Alomal(?) virus that went into this floating around?

[LouCipherr]

Hmmm, good question. I would think humans that survive severe head/brain trauma such as you described is pretty rare, and I wouldn't be surprised if some zombies took an extra shot or two to the head, but in most cases of a normal human one shot to the brain is enough to snuff 'em out for good. I imagine it's the same for zombies.

What part of the brain must be destroyed (if any) is a good question.

What I don't get is, as a zombie their brain is already dead (I mean, they're reanimated - so is their brain), how can you kill it again? You can shoot 'em in the head, but the brain is already dead - so is GAR saying we just need to punch holes in their skulls to kill them? :lol: :D

[Maitreya]

What I don't get is, as a zombie their brain is already dead (I mean, they're reanimated - so is their brain), how can you kill it again? You can shoot 'em in the head, but the brain is already dead - so is GAR saying we just need to punch holes in their skulls to kill them? :lol: :D

Well the process of reanimation, as I understand it is a resurrection of the brain with only the most primal of instincts (Those coming from the brain stem, as Logan said in Day). Yea, it pretty much resurrects the mind which allows the body to function without vital signs or anything, hence why head shots kill them: It's the only living part left of them.

[coma]

Zombies (at least in the Romeroverse) can be taken out by a bullet to the brain or severe head trauma, but how? Living humans can survive massive trauma to the brain and still survive;

I would also point out the converse.
2 guys get in a fight. One (not particularly big or strong) punches the other once in the head. The victim falls down dead.
the puncher goes to jail for manslaughter.
That happens way more often then getting a pipe through the head and living.

[Eyebiter]

Easy, live humans tend to heal. Dead zombies simply decay over time.

[Tullaryx]

People need to realize that a bullet to the head won't just create a neat hole and zip right on through. Even a .22 caliber will bounce around inside the skull to cause more damage than the entry wound would show. Now take a high velocity rifle round or a heavier pistol round and what you get is massive head traume. No need to aim exactly in the middle of the forehead. As long as its in the skull area and not the jawline that zombie will go down.

[Wooley]

The tamping rod ripped through Gage's temporal lobe, the part of the brain in the front of the skull, behind the forehead. It's responsible for things like judgement and self control, hence Gage's personality change after the accident. Logan talks a lot about the R-Complex, the primordial brain, which is nestled deep inside the skull being the engine that drives them.

My thought would be that a good fighting or hunting caliber rifle aimed at the upside down triangle of the eyebrows down to the divit under the nose, or aimed at the ear would be dead on to sufficently scramble the R complex. Rifles and shotguns do some horrific things to the human head. Rotten.com or Ogrish.com, the online gore galleries, have lots of examples of gunshot wounds to the head, and close enough would probably work in most cases.

[DJ.doucheBAG]

Not all of the brain would be reactivated. Think about it: different parts of the brain control different parts of the body. For example: the frontal lobe of the the brain controls personality and memories and stuff. Zombies have no memories and personality, so my guess is the frontal lobe is not activated all the way, but as you will see at the bottom you need it for some stuff. Most people who survive serious wounds to the head like gunshots and stuff, have their frontal lobe damaged. They're not themselves anymore, for the mostpart, withdrawn and anti-social. They can live without it, other people have to have the part of their brain that stores shortterm or longterm memories. Zombies don't have this either, so my guess is that this part of the brain isn't active either. The part of the brain that scientist believe to house basic instinct such as to eat, sh*t, breath, drink ect is a glob of goo in the center of the brain. This is most likely the part of the zombie which is active, because what do they do: FEED. This is probably not ALL the way active, but for the most part is turned on.

FRONTAL LOBE: associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving. PARTIALLY ACITVE: Zombie can solve basic problems such as breaking down barricades, and can moan. This is probably a little active.

Parietal Lobe- associated with movement, orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli. ACTIVE: Zombies can move and stuff, will avoid obstacles and such

Occipital Lobe- associated with visual processing ACTIVE Zombies can see stuff.

Temporal Lobe- associated with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech. ACTIVE Zombies are more then good at hearing stuff.

Sorry, some of the stuff at the bottom kinda contradicts whats at the top but i hope you know what i mean. Make sense?

[creepntom]

i figured it followed the "kill the head & the body will die" scenario

makes sense to me

[Trencher]

To make a brain wound the size of half a fist seem to work in most cases.

[VegoTheUnholy]

you also have to keep in mind that a normal human would aslo have medical assistance, and a zombie would already have less brain cell working so any strike to the head could prob. do some damage

[Guru ofthe Dead]

Simple answer. JFK 11/22/63.

[bassman]

Simple answer. JFK 11/22/63.

That's kind of messed up, man:p

"Back....and to the right. Back....and to the right"

[DJ.doucheBAG]

That's kind of messed up, man:p

"Back....and to the right. Back....and to the right"

thanks dude, you saved me the trouble of having to do that

[kortick]

i think there should be a zombie movie
where they are killed by a b*tch slap

you can see the guy on the news

"to destroy the creature you must
give it a backhanded b*tch slap
as if you lived in a trailer and your girl
let your beer get warm after you told her
not to let that happen"

but seriously
i think the zombies are just barely
"alive" so any good trauma to the
one spot controlling them will do the job

just because they are so weakly tied to "life"

[Chakobsa]

This is my first post so hello all!!
Bullet wounds to the brain that do little damage are flukes. For the most part a properly aimed shot is going to deliver massive hydrostatic shock to what is essentially a lump of grey jelly. Use a shotgun, if two or more pellets hit then the trauma inflicted is the square of the number of hits.:elol:

[AcesandEights]

Nice info Chakobsa, and welcome!

[Chakobsa]

Thanks Acesandeights! I think I'm going to enjoy it here.:D

[Kaos]

This is my first post so hello all!!
Bullet wounds to the brain that do little damage are flukes. For the most part a properly aimed shot is going to deliver massive hydrostatic shock to what is essentially a lump of grey jelly. Use a shotgun, if two or more pellets hit then the trauma inflicted is the square of the number of hits.:elol:

Cool avatar. I have a necklace just like it. :cool:

[Chakobsa]

Cool avatar. I have a necklace just like it. :cool:
Thanks Kaos.:) For those who don't know, my avatar symbol is called a "Valknut" it means "knot of the dead" and it's generally associated with the Norse god Odin.
Sorry to go of topic folks.

[Guru ofthe Dead]

That's kind of messed up, man:p

"Back....and to the right. Back....and to the right"
Ok Ok I went overboard. I was just proving that if the shot hits right then nothing would survive. I apologize to the Kennedys. The splatter goes foward meaning a shot from the back.:p

[Trencher]

Thanks Kaos.:) For those who don't know, my avatar symbol is called a "Valknut" it means "knot of the dead" and it's generally associated with the Norse god Odin.
Sorry to go of topic folks.
I want to go on with the symbol questions since a valknut is a knot.
I checked wikpedia and they showed a picture from a stone inscription found in Lärbro it had the symbol displayed under guy on a horse and the article claimed it was Odin but the horse had only four legs and Odins horse had eight legs. I think that stone looks like a Christian stone and that the three interloking triangles represent God. Try following the stripe of the symbol with a pencil. Can you give me more informatin or a source?
Also I am a little disapointed to see that the areas inside the sign (either its for Odin or God or both) have been subtly widened while the inner space have been pushed togheter making the three triangles look like the symbol of the Afrikaaner weerstandsbewegning rahter than the symbol it once was.

[Angry312]

To go off-topic a little, the valknut, explained:
http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/symbols/bldefsvalknut.htm

To qualify that:
This symbol found on old Norse stonecarvings is called "Hrungnir's heart," after the legendary giant of the Eddas. It is best known as the Valknut, or "knot of the slain," and it has been found on stone carvings with funerary motifs, where it signified the afterlife.

The valknut can be drawn unicursally (in one stroke), making it a popular talisman of protection against spirits.

The Valknut's three interlocking shapes and nine points suggest rebirth, pregnancy, and cycles of reincarnation. The nine points are also suggestive of the Nine Worlds (and the nine fates) of Norse mythology. Their interwoven shape suggests the belief of the interelatedness of the three realms of earth, hel, and the heavens, and the nine domains they encompass.

The Valknut is also an important symbol to many follwers of the Asatru faith, who often wear it as a symbol of the faith.

---------------
Zombie stuff:
I'll post this one in another topic. Too off-Norse mythos to continue here.

Bwha.

:evil: Angry312; "Give Me That Ol' Time Religion." :evil:

[Chakobsa]

I want to go on with the symbol questions since a valknut is a knot.
I checked wikpedia and they showed a picture from a stone inscription found in Lärbro it had the symbol displayed under guy on a horse and the article claimed it was Odin but the horse had only four legs and Odins horse had eight legs. I think that stone looks like a Christian stone and that the three interloking triangles represent God. Try following the stripe of the symbol with a pencil. Can you give me more informatin or a source?
Also I am a little disapointed to see that the areas inside the sign (either its for Odin or God or both) have been subtly widened while the inner space have been pushed togheter making the three triangles look like the symbol of the Afrikaaner weerstandsbewegning rahter than the symbol it once was.
Angry 312 has beat me to it with his admirable info.
To get back on topic whilst retaining the Nordic direction this thread has taken
A Norse hand axe would probably cause ample trauma to the noggins of the walking dead:sneaky: