THUNDER BAY -- A discussion planned for Lakehead University on Friday afternoon will consider whether a zombie apocalypse could really happen.
Organizers with LU's Neuroscience Research Interest Group (NeuRIG) say the presentation, timed to take place just before Halloween, is part of an effort to make the field of neuroscience less intimidating.
Maggie Prenger, the president of the group, says it's not as scary as people think it is. "They hear the word 'neuroscience' and they think that there's a lot of high-level information that's not really accessible to the general public. We're trying to show you can still be interested in neuroscience and learn about it without much prior background in the field."
NeuRIG is using zombies as a model to introduce people to the anatomy of the brain and the different functions of different areas of the brain.
"Because zombies obviously have different behaviour from a normal human, there's definitely something going wrong in the brain of a zombie to make them act differently. We're going to be looking at, hypothetically, what would be going wrong, and whether you could have 'the perfect storm' that could create something like a zombie apocalypse," Prenger said.
The likelihood of that happening, she agreed, is "a bit of a stretch."
The presentation is being billed as a fun event.
Prenger said if people decide to show up in costumes, whether high school students or any community members, they'll be welcomed.
The discussion will include a video lecture by a prominent neuroscientist who wrote a book "Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep?".
The presentation runs from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday in ATAC Room 1006.
