The Wonder Drug That Won't Quit

Cholesterol-lowering medications known as statins have found a new arena in which to strut their stuff. In addition to preventing heart disease and possibly delaying dementia, statins may also combat a learning disability, report researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles.

So far scientists have tested the drug in mice with the same genetic mutation that causes problems with memory, motor coordination and learning in humans. The condition, neurofibromatosis, affects roughly 100,000 Americans.

In a series of maze-like challenges, mice with memory trouble that were treated with a cholesterol drug performed on a par with—and sometimes even better than—their normal peers.

Alcino Silva, a UCLA neurobiologist, explains that the gene mutation that disrupts normal communication between brain cells needs fat to be activated. Just as cholesterol drugs help rid the body of artery-clogging cholesterol, statins also zap the fat that allows the gene mutation to function. Since the surprise finding, the team has rushed human trials into the works.