easy · LSAT Reading Comprehension
The science passage explains that for most of the twentieth century neuroscientists held the 'fixed brain' view, according to which the adult brain cannot generate new neurons. The chief practical support for this view was clinical: adults who suffered brain injuries typically sustained permanent loss of the affected functions, unlike young children, whose brains often recovered. Only in the late 1990s did neuroimaging techniques capable of detecting new cells in the adult hippocampus emerge.
According to the passage, the primary evidence offered for the twentieth-century 'fixed brain' view was:
- The finding that neurons divide only during a fixed critical window early in childhood development.
- The fact that brain injuries in adults tended to leave lasting deficits in the affected functions.
- Genetic research locating a precise molecular 'stop' signal that halts all neuron growth at age 12.
- Advanced neuroimaging studies revealing the complete absence of any new cells in the adult hippocampus.
- Surgical records showing that severed adult neurons, unlike a child's, could not be physically repaired.
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