Zombie+brain

This is one of the only solo projects you will do in this class. It is worth 100pts. Due Friday February 17th 2012.

You are Dr. Sanjay Gupta; the zombies outbreak has just begun, you must create a press release for the scientific community and high school psychology classes that will educate the rest of the population about what is going on within the brain of a zombie. In order to better prepare ourselves for this outbreak, it is important to know exactly what is going on in the brain (so as to aim more precisely). Note: Zombies are fictitious creatures (so far). This project is asking you to demonstrate understanding of many different parts of the brain. You should be creative, but the point is ultimately for you to demonstrate how much you learned and understand about the contents and architecture of the brain.

The characteristics of a zombie: Slurred speech, no long term memory, but good short term memory, all senses working (some could even be heightened), motor skills impaired, but working (they can walk), balance issues (arms out to steady them), constantly agitated, feel no pain (their legs can be removed and they remain fine and hungry), no need for sleep, and very very very hungry. In your press release you must identify and describe what is going on within 10 (honors) and 8 (college prep) of the following parts of the zombie brain:

Amygdala Basal Ganglia Cerebellum Hippocampus Hypothalamus Occipital Lobe Parietal Lobe Prefrontal Cortex Reticular Formation Temporal Lobe Thalamus Wernicke's Area Broca's Area

Please begin by discussing which regions were hardest hit or what happens in each region. That could organize your conference, discussing all of the damage to the parts of the **hindbrain**, then those parts of the **midbrain** that you picked, then you could end with the **forebrain**, or even start there! The choices are yours, but you need to illustrate the differences and organize the parts that you have selected by region.

-You can prepare a script and film yourself with your iPad, then put the video online and post a link here. -You can create a presentation in googledocs or evernote or prezi or wherever containing all of the required information. Just make sure you can post a link here. -You can use xtranormal to create a cartoon press conference, just know that a bare bones video is free on the site, but if you get fancy, they want money. Note, bare bones is fine! You do not need to pay for this very cool site. -Here are some other ideas: mashup Any other creative way of presenting this information will be applauded, just touch base and lmk what you are using so that the resource can be shared with others.
 * Your press release must be submitted online, here in a discussion post link above.**


 * All of the above listed parts of the brain must be included with an explanation of what happened there. Please do not list several of the parts together like they do the same thing, they each need to be explained precisely in order to earn credit for each part. No one should be really shot or eaten during the creation of this assessment.**

If you are needing background info on zombies, this is a video from Nerd Night SF that can help, start at 7mins, warning, this is a wildly nerdy video providing more detail than I had thought possible, created by a neurologist for the "zombie research society" nerdfest