Distinguished neuroscientist Timothy Verstynen, professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, visited Google’s Cambridge, MA office on Halloween. He was there to discuss the book he just co-authored with equally distinguished neuroscientist Bradley Voytek, Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep? A Neuroscientific Look at the Zombie Brain.

In this groundbreaking study, the fearless duo dissect the puzzle of what has happened to the zombie brain to make the undead act differently than their human prey. Each chapter draws on zombie popular culture and identifies a characteristic zombie behavior that can be explained using neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and brain-behavior relationships. Through this exploration they shed light on fundamental neuroscientific questions such as: How does the brain function during sleeping and waking? What neural systems control movement? What is the nature of sensory perception?

The authors are members of the Zombie Research Society and are preparing grant applications to research the coming zombie apocalypse.