Science writer: The deterioration

Answer choices

1. A

   No Impact / Opposite14% picked this

   The inability of Alzheimer's patients to eliminate the protein BA from the brain is due to a deficiency

   The author is presenting two parallel causal ideas: Alzheimer's → protein BA buildup + Microglia attacks → destroys → mental protein BA buildup healthy deterioration with poisons cells This answer is saying low microglia levels → protein BA buildup The author doesn't need that to be true, and it doesn't really fit his story well. Since he expects microglia activity to be present in a patient with protein buildup, he wouldn't expect that protein buildups go hand-in-hand with low levels of microglia.

   14%
2. B

   Correct58% picked this

   Acetylsalicylic acid reduces the production of immune cells in

   Why this is right

   There should be a medal for anyone who figures out this correct answer. We had a dangling premise that didn't have any clear relationship to microglia (the brain's immune cells). Supposedly, the fact that acetylsalicylic acid helps to slow Alzheimer's mental deterioration is evidence that microglia cause that deterioration. This answer allows us to see how those would be connected. if Acetylsalicylic → less microglia + Acetylsalicylic → less deterioration it suggests that less microglia → less deterioration

   Skill tested: Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   58%
3. C

   No Impact12% picked this

   The activity of microglia results in a decrease in the buildup of protein deposits

   The author thinks microglia causes the mental deterioration of Alzheimer's through the behavior of attacking protein buildup with poisons. If they attack the protein deposits in the brain, one would think that their activity results in a decreases of protein deposits. So this answer seems to explicitly state something that we already knew / took for granted. Ultimately, for the author's causal story to work, it's less important whether microglia successfully get rid of protein deposits and more important just that the poisons microglia release in an attempt to get rid of protein deposits kill enough healthy brain cells to cause mental deterioration.

   12%
4. D

   Weakens14% picked this

   The protein BA directly interferes with the cognitive functions of

   This poses an alternate cause for the mental deterioration of Alzheimer's: the protein buildup itself causes it.

   14%
5. E

   Unclear Impact3% picked this

   Immune reactions by microglia occur in certain diseases of the brain

   Since microglia are the brain's immune cells, we'd expect them to be involved in other brain diseases. But that tells us nothing about whether microglia cause the mental deterioration associated with Alzheimer's.

   3%