Past Paper 2016 Section 1

A  2 

 

B  3 

 

C  4 

 

D  5 

 

E  7 

 

F  9 

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© UCLES 2016

 

15 

A group of UK scientists have a rare opportunity to study human brains thanks to the promise 

of donations of brains after death by some members of a study group. The dissection of these 

brains and the counting of the numbers of synapses in them may add evidence to the idea of 

‘cognitive reserve’: when a person gets older, they start to lose some brain synapses, with a 

negative impact on cognitive function. Those elderly people who have led a ‘brain friendly’ 

lifestyle when younger are thought to have created extra synapses, mitigating the naturally 

occurring loss of synapses through age. Adopting a ‘brain friendly’ lifestyle when younger 

should make it possible to retain cognitive performance into old age. Such a lifestyle is thought 

to include reading books, being socially active and physically healthy. 

 

Which one of the following can reliably be concluded from the information in the above 

passage?