10/3/2015 CatExams

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YouwereINCORRECT

Question9of41

5 Scientificadvancesinthetwentiethcentury
haveallowedresearcherstostudythechemical
activitiestakingplaceinthesleepinghumanbrain.
Inthe1970s,researcherBarryJacobsdrewon
theseadvancestoproposethatashared
10 neurochemicalbasisintheneurotransmitters
serotoninandnorepinephrineaccountsforthe
observablesimilaritiesbetweendreamsand
hallucinations.TotestJacobstheory,researchers
attemptedtoelucidatetheroleofserotoninand
15 norepinephrineinthenormalsleepcycleandthe
effectofhallucinogenicdrugsonthese
neurotransmitters.
Serotoninappearsimportantformanaging
sleep,mood,andappetite,amongotherfunctions,
20 whilenorepinephrinefacilitatesalertnessand
mentalfocus.Bothneurotransmittersare
dischargedinhighquantitiesonlyduringwaking
states.Attheonsetofsleep,theneuronsthat
releasetheseneurotransmittersbecomeless
25 active,allowingthebraintoenterthethreenon
rapideyemovement(nonREM)stagesofsleep.
ThenonREMstagestypicallyarenotassociated
withnormaldreaming,thoughparasomnias,such
assleepwalkingandconfusionalarousals,aremost
30 commonduringstage3.Whenthebrainisreadyto
enterthefourthstage,REM,whichisstrongly
associatedwithdreaming,thelevelsofthesetwo
chemicalsdropvirtuallytozero.TheJacobs
hypothesisheldthattheabsenceofnorepinephrine

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35 wasrequiredtoenablethebraintoremainasleep,
whiletheabsenceofserotoninwasnecessaryto
allowdreamingtooccur.
Lysergicaciddiethylamide,orLSD,isa
semisyntheticpsychedelicdrugwhichcauses
40 significantalterationofthesensesatdoseshigher
than20micrograms,itcanhaveahallucinogenic
effect.LSDmimicsserotoninwellenoughtobe
abletobindatmostoftheneurotransmitters
receptorsites,largelyinhibitingnormal
45 transmission.Inaddition,thedrugcausesthe
Locuscoeruleus,aclusterofneuronscontaining
norepinephrine,togreatlyaccelerateactivity.Ifthe
drugstimulatesnorepinephrine,therebyprecluding
sleep,andinhibitsserotonin,creatinganecessary
50 conditionfordreaming,thentheresulting
hallucinationscouldmerelybedreamingwhile
awake.Theresearchthusfarispromisingbut
inconclusivefuturescientificadvancesshould
allowthistheorytobetestedmorerigorously.
55

Whichofthefollowing,iftrue,wouldmostunderminethecentralpremiseoftheJacobshypothesis?

LSDdoesnotcauseasmuchlongtermneurologicaldamageaspreviouslythought.
Serotoninandnorepinephrinearefoundtoriseandfallintandem.
Researchersproveconclusivelythatthelevelofnorepinephrineinthebrainisasignificantfactorin
enablingthebraintosleep.
SomesemisynthetichallucinogenicdrugsotherthanLSDdonotinhibitserotonin.
Thefirstthreestagesofsleepareascrucialtotheprocessofdreamingasthefourthstage.

HideExplanation
Weareaskedto"underminethecentralpremise"ofthepresentedhypothesis,whichissummarizedinthesecond
sentenceofthefirstparagraph.Jacobsproposedthatdreamsandhallucinationsfunctionviaasimilarbrain
mechanisminvolvingthelevelsoftwochemicals,serotoninandnorepinephrine.Jacobstriedtoprovethisby
demonstratingthatthelevelsofthesetwochemicalsfluctuateinasimilarfashionwhilebothdreaming(natural
state)andhallucinating(viaingestionofahallucinatorydrug).

(A)Thischoiceisoutofscope.Jacobs'theorydoesnotaddressneurologicaldamagerather,itisatheoryaboutthe
mechanismofsleepanddreaming.

(B)ThisistheoppositeofwhatwewantweseektoundermineJacobs'centralpremiseandthiswouldsupporthis
ideathatthelevelsofthetwochemicalsfluctuateinasimilarfashion.

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(C)ThiscouldundermineJacobs'theoryundercertaincircumstances,butitcouldalsobolsterthetheorynot
enoughinformationisgiven.Jacobsbelievedthatthedropinnorepinephrinelevelsenabledthebraintosleep.This
choicemerelysaysthe"levels"aresignificantitdoesnotquantifytheselevels,sowedonotknowwhetherthis
choicesupportsorcontradictsJacobs'hypothesis.

(D)CORRECT.Ifotherhallucinogens(i.e.,drugsthatcausehallucinations)areabletoproducehallucinations
withoutinhibitingserotonin,thenthecentralpremiseofJacobs'hypothesisthatdreamsandhallucinationsfunction
viaasimilarbrainmechanisminvolvingthelevelsofserotoninandnorepinephrinemightnothold.

(E)Thischoicesaysthesestagesare"crucial"totheoverallprocessofdreaming(whichwecanalreadyinferfrom
thepassageundernormalcircumstances,wehavetofallasleepbeforewedream),butitdoesnotsayanything
else.Perhapsifweweretoldthatdreamingoccursduringthefirstthreestages,whenlevelsofthetwochemicals
arehigher,wemightconcludethatthisweakensthehypothesistheinformationistoovagueaspresented,
however,toconcludeanything.
EndExamYoumustselectananswertoproceed.Next>>ProblemList<<Prev

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