One of The First Attempts to Peer into The Living Human Brain GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question:

One of the first attempts to peer into the living human brain was carried out by a neurosurgeon named Wilder Penfield in 1950. Penfield opened the skulls of conscious epileptic patients under local anaesthesia, and A induced a mild electric current into their brains in an attempt to pinpoint the source of seizure activity and then remove that piece of tissue. What he found was even more remarkable than what he initially set out to do. By stimulating different points on the lower parts of the brain (the temporal lobes), he elicited distinct and vivid memories in his patients. These memories were more precise than usual memories, and incorporated different modalities such as visual and auditory sense impressions. Penfield’s patients reported different types of memories (a moment from childhood, a recollection of a tune). When the same location in the temporal lobe was stimulated again the same memory reappeared. Could it be that a physical map of memories exists within our brains?

One might mistakenly conclude from Penfield's experiment that particular memories are stored in specific sites in the brain such that the memory of one's grandmother is stored in one area and the memory of what one had for dinner is stored in another. While this description is imprecise, the alternative theory, that memory is stored in a unitary superstructure, is also inaccurate. Although it is true that the temporal lobes play a critical role in memory processes, evidence from brain imaging studies strongly indicates that memory is divided among a range of distinct but interacting neural systems, each contributing to a unique feature of memory. One system may be involved to a larger extent in encoding or retrieval, while another may deal with the process of consolidating memory. One specific structure is more active in emotional memory, while others are employed in working memory, semantic memory, and episodic memory. These multiple memory systems are constantly sharing information and modulating one another.

‘One of the first attempts to peer into the living human brain’ is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 comprehension questions.

The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Questions and Solutions

1. A good title for this passage would be

1. The Life and Work of Neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield
2. The Physical Organisation of Memory in the Human Brain
3. The Cognitive Functions of the Temporal Lobes
4. Historical Progress in the Search for an Epilepsy Cure
5. Where Are Childhood Memories Located in the Brain?

2. Which of the following is mentioned in Paragraph 2 with regard to the neural systems of memory?

1. A specific brain structure cannot be involved in more than one aspect of memory.
2. The same neural system is primarily involved in both emotional memory and semantic memory.
3. The lower parts of the brain play a critical role in memory processes.
4. There is a specific brain region that stores the memory of last night's dinner.
5. Epilepsy will affect the storage and retrieval of memories.

3. When the author talks about a “unitary superstructure,” (Highlighted) he is referring to

1. the brain as a whole
2. a theory of memory organisation preferred by most scientists
3. the cortex of the brain
4. a specific brain region in which all memories are stored
5. the sum of all memory processes, such as encoding, retrieval, and consolidation

4. All of the following are mentioned in Paragraph 1 as part of the surgical procedure Penfield performed on his patients EXCEPT

1. Penfield stimulated different points in his patients' temporal lobes.
2. Penfield's epileptic patients were not totally anaesthetized during the surgery.
3. The patients' brains were given small electric shocks during surgery.
4. Penfield removed the pieces of tissue responsible for inducing seizures in his patients.
5. The patients' skulls were wide open throughout the surgery.

Suggested GMAT Reading Comprehension Questions

• Nitrogen, Which Comprises 78 Percent of Earth's Atmosphere GMAT Reading Comprehension.
• An Experiment Conducted Aboard Space Lab in 1983 GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Coral Reefs Increasingly Face a Number of Threats GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Shortness, Reduced Mobility and Sore Joints May not Come to Mind GMAT Reading Comprehension
• When I Talk About UFOs in my Introductory Astronomy Classes GMAT Reading Comprehension
• There is a New Cell-Phone Ring Tone that can't be Heard by Most People GMAT Reading Comprehension
• A Growing Taste for Shark Steaks and Shark-Fin Soup has for the First Time in 400 Million Years GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Erythropoietin, Known also as EPO, is a Glycoprotein Hormone that Controls the Production of Red Blood Cells GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Ideas Involving the Theory of Probability Play a Decisive Part in Modern Physics. GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Isolated From the Rest of the World by Circumpolar Currents and Ice Fields, the Dry Valleys of Antarctica Never See Snowfall. GMAT Reading Comprehension
• In the Fast New Choreography of American Compassion, Explanation is Twirled into Excuse GMAT Reading Comprehension
• No One Thing Over Which we have Control Exerts so Marked an Influence Upon our Physical Prosperity GMAT Reading Comprehension
• The Spotted Hyenas, or Crocuta Crocuta, Found Through Sub-Saharan Africa GMAT Reading Comprehension
• For Biologists, The Term “eye” Describes any Light-Sensitive Organ GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Newton’s Surprising Success at Developing the Laws of Motion GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Physical Theory Implies that the Existence of Astronomical Entities GMAT Reading Comprehension
• The Study of Climate Change has Established Retreating Glaciers GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Every culture that has adopted the cultivation of maize GMAT Reading Comprehension
• At the present time, 98% of the world energy consumption GMAT Reading Comprehension
• The Internet makes possible the instantaneous transmission GMAT Reading Comprehension