PrepTest 125, Section 3, Question 24
Neurobiologists once believed that the workings of the(446 more words not shown)
The author most likely uses(20 more words not shown)
- Apossess channels for(1 more words not shown)
- Brespond to drug(1 more words not shown)
- Ccontain receptor(1 more words not shown)
- Dinfluence particular brain(1 more words not shown)
- Ereact to binding(2 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The phrase appears in the discussion of selective treatment. Scientists hope to target specific receptors rather than produce an undifferentiated effect throughout the brain. My starting thought is that these would be neurons relevant to the disorder being treated.
What we’re looking for
Now we need to use the surrounding sentence to work out what makes the categories distinct.
Working the answers
- A
Having ion channels is part of the mechanism already described. It doesn't explain the particular categories that a selective treatment would target.
- B
Responding to treatment sounds relevant, but it's too general to explain the grouping. The sentence is about using knowledge of specific effects to design targeted drugs, not simply dividing neurons into those that respond to drugs and those that don't.
- C
Containing receptor molecules likewise doesn't identify the relevant distinction among categories.
- DCorrect
The sentence begins with deciphering each receptor variety's “precise effect on behavior” and ends with drugs that selectively enhance or impede those effects. The categories therefore concern neurons influencing particular functions. This sharpens our initial treatment-based prediction: the text isn't necessarily classifying neurons as diseased; it's distinguishing them by the functions a drug could affect.
- E
Reacting to neurotransmitter binding describes the general signaling mechanism. It doesn't explain what separates the defined categories for selective treatment.
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