By Alex Rodabaugh
Recently, a friend showed me a horrific news story set in Columbia where a mysterious drug known as the “Zombie Drug” has become popular in carrying out crime. The drug is said to cause the user to become just what the drug’s name implies, a zombie. A person who is under the influence of this drug has no control over his actions. They are at the complete will of the people making suggestions to them. One example described in the story is of a man who, after becoming conscious, realizes he’s been mugged and that thousands of dollars have been stolen from him. When he goes to the police to investigate, they show him a video of himself walking into his bank, withdrawing his money and meeting people outside.
At first I was in shock and disbelief, trying to figure out why I had never heard of this drug and why it wasn’t known or discussed in the United States. The news story only describes the drug as an extract from the Borrachero tree found in Columbia and neighboring countries. It wasn’t until I began studying for our most recent quiz that I realized why the drugs name sounded so familiar. The drug is none other than Scopalomine! We learned that the drug is a blocker of Acetylcholine, which allows the brain to learn new associations in conditioning. Animals who are given Scopalomine do not learn these new associations and are not conditioned. (Scopolamine is also available in a patch, to control motion sickness.)
This raises the question, then, does the inability to be conditioned to a response (the blocking of Acetylcholine) also cause someone to become unable to refuse other’s suggestions? Or, does Scopalomine do more than just block this neurotransmitter? Perhaps more study with this drug can help us understand how the brain works. However, one thing is for sure, let’s hope the Scopalomine stays in the labs and off of the streets.
The original video from the reporter on VBS.tv can be seen here. THis is fairly long and requires Flash player. A summary report on CNN can be found here. This is shorter, but also requires Flash player.