medium · LSAT Reading Comprehension
For most of the twentieth century, scientists held that the adult brain was structurally fixed, generating no new neurons once development was complete. That view has since been overturned by evidence of adult neurogenesis. In rodents, researchers found that interventions such as environmental enrichment and physical exercise measurably raised the rate at which new neurons appeared in the hippocampus. Translating these gains into human therapies, however, remains a formidable challenge, since the rate of neurogenesis in humans appears far lower than in rodents.
The author mentions 'environmental enrichment' and 'physical exercise' primarily in order to illustrate which one of the following?
- Particular interventions can boost the pace at which new neurons are produced, at least in laboratory animals.
- These two activities are the sole established means of curing Alzheimer's disease in human patients.
- The human brain regenerates neurons at precisely the same rate observed in the rodent brain.
- Such activities shape brain structure only during childhood and have no effect thereafter.
- The evidence for adult neurogenesis in rodents fails to meet accepted scientific standards.
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