The concept of “The Walking Dead,” where corpses reanimate and behave like zombies, is not scientifically plausible as depicted in fiction.

However, certain biological, neurological, and environmental phenomena can loosely mimic zombie-like behaviors.

1. Parasites and Infections in Nature

Parasites like Ophiocordyceps (Zombie Ant Fungus): Insects, such as ants, can be controlled by parasitic fungi that manipulate their behavior.

This phenomenon is real but limited to insects and cannot affect humans.

Toxoplasma gondii: A parasite that can alter the behavior of rodents, making them less fearful of predators.

While it affects the brain, it doesn’t cause “zombie-like” behavior in humans.

2. Neurological Diseases

Rabies Virus: Rabies can lead to aggression and altered behavior, but it doesn’t reanimate the dead. It only affects the living brain.

Prion Diseases: Conditions like Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease affect the brain and lead to severe neurological dysfunction, but these diseases do not cause reanimation.

3. Toxins and Drugs

Tetrodotoxin (TTX): Found in pufferfish, this toxin can induce paralysis and mimic “death,” which some have speculated might inspire zombie myths.

Certain Drugs: Substances like bath salts or PCP have been known to cause erratic, violent behavior, but they don’t turn people into actual zombies.

4. Hypothetical Scenarios

Brain Manipulation: Some researchers speculate about hypothetical pathogens or technologies (e.g., nanotechnology, synthetic biology) that could control human behavior.

However, no evidence exists that such a thing could reanimate a corpse.

Why Zombies Are Fiction

The human body begins to decompose rapidly after death due to the cessation of biological processes.

Reanimating a corpse would require reversing decomposition and restoring all complex systems, including the brain and circulatory system, which is not feasible with current scientific understanding.