Neuroscientist Dr. Olsen hypothesizes that during sleep, the brain actively replays the day's experiences in compressed form, and that this replay strengthens memory specifically rather than merely indicating passive activity.
Which finding, if true, would most strongly support Dr. Olsen's specific hypothesis?
- A
Animals who sleep more hours per day tend to have larger brains relative to body size.
- B
Some brain regions are more active during sleep than during waking.
- Ccheck_circle
When researchers disrupted the firing patterns associated with daytime experience during sleep, animals' memory for the experience was impaired, while general sleep duration and quality were unchanged.
- D
Brain activity during sleep can be measured with electrodes.
Explanation
A is interventional: targeted disruption of the replay patterns selectively impairs memory while sleep itself is undisturbed, isolating replay as the causal mechanism. B, C, and D are tangential or non-causal.